De Mycomuncher DNA Puzzel (alleen in het Engels)

Welcome to the MYCOMUNCHER DNA PUZZLE webpage! For more information on the pricing, an order form for a complete puzzle set or instructions on how to build your own version, please contact: c.fungivorans@nioo.knaw.nl.

What is it?
The MYCOMUNCHER DNA PUZZLE is a fun educational tool developed by Dr. Johan Leveau at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). It offers a playful introduction into the world of genomes and genes, what they are, how they work, and why scientists study them.

In short, the basic objective of the MYCOMUNCHER DNA PUZZLE is to assemble short DNA sequences into a gene, to translate this gene into a protein, to assign a possible function to the protein and to hypothesize about its role in the mycomunching behaviour of Collimonas fungivorans.

The real thing!
The MYCOMUNCHER DNA PUZZLE is based on real research on the fungus-eating (‘mycomunching’) bacterium Collimonas fungivorans. Each time you play the game, you’ll get closer to understanding and appreciating the biology and lifestyle of this unique organism. Collimonas fungivorans is a bacterium that was first discovered by scientists from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology in the dune soils of the Dutch island of Terschelling. Its most remarkable property is the ability to use living fungi as food. So far, it is the only bacterial species for which this has been reported. Collimonas fungivorans has been described in several scientific papers. The most informative one is that by De Boer and colleagues, entitled ‘Collimonas fungivorans gen. nov., sp. nov., a chitinolytic soil bacterium with the ability to grow on living fungal hyphae’. It was published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (2004) 54: 857-864. A reprint or PDF can be requested here: library@nioo.knaw.nl. 

What is in it?
A complete set of the MYCOMUNCHER DNA PUZZLE consists of five short wooden DNA sequences for assembly, one wooden pole with 4 gene sequences and one with 4 corresponding protein sequences, thirty wood blocks representing “codons" with their matching amino acid, six posters with background information and wooden stands, one scale model of the Collimonas-fungus interaction, and a teacher’s manual. 

The MYCOMUNCHER DNA PUZZLE fits in a box of 120x30x15-cm dimensions and weighs approximately 10 kg. For more information on how to get or perhaps build this puzzle, please contact us at c.fungivorans@nioo.knaw.nl.

Unique gene
Proud owners of the puzzle receive a certificate that links them to a unique gene on the Collimonas fungivorans genome. If you are one of those owners, look up your unique ColliGene number, to find out what the predicted function of this gene is… TO BE CONTINUED!

Classroom use
An article describing the MYCOMUNCHER DNA PUZZLE and its use in more detail is published in the fifth issue of Science in School, a magazine that aims to promote the communication between teachers, scientists, and science educators.

For more information on the pricing, an order form for a complete puzzle set or instructions on
how to build your own version, please contact c.fungivorans@nioo.knaw.nl.