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Zhou A, Kirkpatrick LD, Ornelas IJ, Washington LJ, Hummel NFC, Gee CW, Tang SN, Barnum CR, Scheller HV, Shih PM. A Suite of Constitutive Promoters for Tuning Gene Expression in Plants. ACS Synth Biol 2023; 12:1533-1545. [PMID: 37083366 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/22/2023]
Abstract
The need for convenient tools to express transgenes over a large dynamic range is pervasive throughout plant synthetic biology; however, current efforts are largely limited by the heavy reliance on a small set of strong promoters, precluding more nuanced and refined engineering endeavors in planta. To address this technical gap, we characterize a suite of constitutive promoters that span a wide range of transcriptional levels and develop a GoldenGate-based plasmid toolkit named PCONS, optimized for versatile cloning and rapid testing of transgene expression at varying strengths. We demonstrate how easy access to a stepwise gradient of expression levels can be used for optimizing synthetic transcriptional systems and the production of small molecules in planta. We also systematically investigate the potential of using PCONS as an internal standard in plant biology experimental design, establishing the best practices for signal normalization in experiments. Although our library has primarily been developed for optimizing expression in N. benthamiana, we demonstrate the translatability of our promoters across distantly related species using a multiplexed reporter assay with barcoded transcripts. Our findings showcase the advantages of the PCONS library as an invaluable toolkit for plant synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy Zhou
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94705, United States
| | - Liam D Kirkpatrick
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94705, United States
| | - Izaiah J Ornelas
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94705, United States
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Lorenzo J Washington
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94705, United States
| | - Niklas F C Hummel
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94705, United States
| | - Christopher W Gee
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94705, United States
| | - Sophia N Tang
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94705, United States
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Collin R Barnum
- Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Henrik V Scheller
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94705, United States
| | - Patrick M Shih
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Feedstocks Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94705, United States
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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Cai YM, Kallam K, Tidd H, Gendarini G, Salzman A, Patron NJ. Rational design of minimal synthetic promoters for plants. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:11845-11856. [PMID: 32856047 DOI: 10.1101/2020.05.14.095406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 05/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Promoters serve a critical role in establishing baseline transcriptional capacity through the recruitment of proteins, including transcription factors. Previously, a paucity of data for cis-regulatory elements in plants meant that it was challenging to determine which sequence elements in plant promoter sequences contributed to transcriptional function. In this study, we have identified functional elements in the promoters of plant genes and plant pathogens that utilize plant transcriptional machinery for gene expression. We have established a quantitative experimental system to investigate transcriptional function, investigating how identity, density and position contribute to regulatory function. We then identified permissive architectures for minimal synthetic plant promoters enabling the computational design of a suite of synthetic promoters of different strengths. These have been used to regulate the relative expression of output genes in simple genetic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao-Min Cai
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Kalyani Kallam
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Henry Tidd
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Giovanni Gendarini
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Amanda Salzman
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Nicola J Patron
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
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Cai YM, Kallam K, Tidd H, Gendarini G, Salzman A, Patron N. Rational design of minimal synthetic promoters for plants. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:11845-11856. [PMID: 32856047 PMCID: PMC7708054 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Promoters serve a critical role in establishing baseline transcriptional capacity through the recruitment of proteins, including transcription factors. Previously, a paucity of data for cis-regulatory elements in plants meant that it was challenging to determine which sequence elements in plant promoter sequences contributed to transcriptional function. In this study, we have identified functional elements in the promoters of plant genes and plant pathogens that utilize plant transcriptional machinery for gene expression. We have established a quantitative experimental system to investigate transcriptional function, investigating how identity, density and position contribute to regulatory function. We then identified permissive architectures for minimal synthetic plant promoters enabling the computational design of a suite of synthetic promoters of different strengths. These have been used to regulate the relative expression of output genes in simple genetic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao-Min Cai
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Kalyani Kallam
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Henry Tidd
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Giovanni Gendarini
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Amanda Salzman
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - Nicola J Patron
- Engineering Biology, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK
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Rylott EL, Bruce NC. How synthetic biology can help bioremediation. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2020; 58:86-95. [PMID: 32805454 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Revised: 06/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The World Health Organization reported that "an estimated 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012, nearly 1 in 4 of total global deaths". Air, water and soil pollution were the significant risk factors, and there is an urgent need for effective remediation strategies. But tackling this problem is not easy; there are many different types of pollutants, often widely dispersed, difficult to locate and identify, and in many cases cost-effective clean-up techniques are lacking. Biology offers enormous potential as a tool to develop microbial and plant-based solutions to remediate and restore our environment. Advances in synthetic biology are unlocking this potential enabling the design of tailor-made organisms for bioremediation. In this article, we showcase examples of xenobiotic clean-up to illustrate current achievements and discuss the limitations to advancing this promising technology to make real-world improvements in the remediation of global pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth L Rylott
- Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, UK.
| | - Neil C Bruce
- Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, UK.
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