Pen UY, Nunn CJ, Goyal S. An Automated Tabletop Continuous Culturing System with Multicolor Fluorescence Monitoring for Microbial Gene Expression and Long-Term Population Dynamics.
ACS Synth Biol 2021;
10:766-777. [PMID:
33819013 DOI:
10.1021/acssynbio.0c00574]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Real-time monitoring of gene expression dynamics and population levels in a multispecies microbial community could enable the study of the role of changing gene expression patterns on eco-evolutionary outcomes. Here we report the design and validation of a unique experimental platform with an in situ fluorescence measurement system that has high dynamic range and temporal resolution and is capable of monitoring multiple fluorophores for long-term gene expression and population dynamics experiments. We demonstrate the capability of our system to capture gene expression dynamics in response to external perturbations in two synthetic genetic systems: a simple inducible genetic circuit and a bistable toggle switch. Finally, in exploring the population dynamics of a two species microbial community, we show that our system can capture the switch between competitive exclusion and long-term coexistence in response to different nutrient conditions.
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