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Gómez-Tatay L, Hernández-Andreu JM. Xenobiology for the Biocontainment of Synthetic Organisms: Opportunities and Challenges. Life (Basel) 2024; 14:996. [PMID: 39202738 PMCID: PMC11355180 DOI: 10.3390/life14080996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2024] [Revised: 08/07/2024] [Accepted: 08/09/2024] [Indexed: 09/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Since the development of recombinant DNA technologies, the need to establish biosafety and biosecurity measures to control genetically modified organisms has been clear. Auxotrophies, or conditional suicide switches, have been used as firewalls to avoid horizontal or vertical gene transfer, but their efficacy has important limitations. The use of xenobiological systems has been proposed as the ultimate biosafety tool to circumvent biosafety problems in genetically modified organisms. Xenobiology is a subfield of Synthetic Biology that aims to construct orthogonal biological systems based on alternative biochemistries. Establishing true orthogonality in cell-based or cell-free systems promises to improve and assure that we can progress in synthetic biology safely. Although a wide array of strategies for orthogonal genetic systems have been tested, the construction of a host harboring fully orthogonal genetic system, with all parts operating in an orchestrated, integrated, and controlled manner, still poses an extraordinary challenge for researchers. In this study, we have performed a thorough review of the current literature to present the main advances in the use of xenobiology as a strategy for biocontainment, expanding on the opportunities and challenges of this field of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucía Gómez-Tatay
- Institute of Life Sciences, Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir, 46001 Valencia, Spain;
| | - José Miguel Hernández-Andreu
- Grupo de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Mitocondrial, Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir, 46001 Valencia, Spain
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De Wannemaeker L, Bervoets I, De Mey M. Unlocking the bacterial domain for industrial biotechnology applications using universal parts and tools. Biotechnol Adv 2022; 60:108028. [PMID: 36031082 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.108028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Synthetic biology can play a major role in the development of sustainable industrial biotechnology processes. However, the development of economically viable production processes is currently hampered by the limited availability of host organisms that can be engineered for a specific production process. To date, standard hosts such as Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae are often used as starting points for process development since parts and tools allowing their engineering are readily available. However, their suboptimal metabolic background or impaired performance at industrial scale for a desired production process, can result in increased costs associated with process development and/or disappointing production titres. Building a universal and portable gene expression system allowing genetic engineering of hosts across the bacterial domain would unlock the bacterial domain for industrial biotechnology applications in a highly standardized manner and doing so, render industrial biotechnology processes more competitive compared to the current polluting chemical processes. This review gives an overview of a selection of bacterial hosts highly interesting for industrial biotechnology based on both their metabolic and process optimization properties. Moreover, the requirements and progress made so far to enable universal, standardized, and portable gene expression across the bacterial domain is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lien De Wannemaeker
- Centre for Synthetic Biology (CSB), Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Indra Bervoets
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Marjan De Mey
- Centre for Synthetic Biology (CSB), Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
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Zhu X, Zhaoyang Zhang, Bin Jia, Yuan Y. Current advances of biocontainment strategy in synthetic biology. Chin J Chem Eng 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2022.07.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Zhang Z, Liao D, Ma Y, Jia B, Yuan Y. Orthogonality of Redesigned
tRNA
Molecules with Three Stop Codons. CHINESE J CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/cjoc.202100759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhao‐Yang Zhang
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
| | - Dan‐Ni Liao
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
| | - Yu‐Xin Ma
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
| | - Bin Jia
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
| | - Ying‐Jin Yuan
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin) Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China
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Li J, Zhao H, Zheng L, An W. Advances in Synthetic Biology and Biosafety Governance. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2021; 9:598087. [PMID: 33996776 PMCID: PMC8120004 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.598087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Tremendous advances in the field of synthetic biology have been witnessed in multiple areas including life sciences, industrial development, and environmental bio-remediation. However, due to the limitations of human understanding in the code of life, any possible intended or unintended uses of synthetic biology, and other unknown reasons, the development and application of this technology has raised concerns over biosafety, biosecurity, and even cyberbiosecurity that they may expose public health and the environment to unknown hazards. Over the past decades, some countries in Europe, America, and Asia have enacted laws and regulations to control the application of synthetic biology techniques in basic and applied research and this has resulted in some benefits. The outbreak of the COVID-19 caused by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and various speculations about the origin of this virus have attracted more attention on bio-risk concerns of synthetic biology because of its potential power and uncertainty in the synthesis and engineering of living organisms. Therefore, it is crucial to scrutinize the control measures put in place to ensure appropriate use, promote the development of synthetic biology, and strengthen the governance of pathogen-related research, although the true origin of coronavirus remains hotly debated and unresolved. This article reviews the recent progress made in the field of synthetic biology and combs laws and regulations in governing bio-risk issues. We emphasize the urgent need for legislative and regulatory constraints and oversight to address the biological risks of synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Li
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Huimiao Zhao
- College of Humanities and Law, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Lanxin Zheng
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Wenlin An
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China
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Zhou Y, Sun T, Chen Z, Song X, Chen L, Zhang W. Development of a New Biocontainment Strategy in Model Cyanobacterium Synechococcus Strains. ACS Synth Biol 2019; 8:2576-2584. [PMID: 31577416 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Recent synthetic biology efforts have raised biosafety concerns for possible release of engineered cyanobacteria into natural environments. To address the issues, we developed a controllable metal ion induced biocontainment system for two model cyanobacteria. First, six ion-inducible promoters were respectively evaluated in both Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 and the fast-growing cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus UTEX 2973, leading to the identification of an iron ion-repressed promoter PisiAB with low leakage and a reduction-fold of 5.4 and 7.9, respectively. Second, holin-endolysin and nuclease NucA systems were introduced, the inhibition rate of which against two Synechococcus strains varied from 61% to 86.4%. Third, two toxin/antitoxin modules were identified capable of inducing programmed suicide in both Synechococcus strains after induction. Furthermore, an escape experiment was conducted and the results showed that the system was able to achieve an escape frequency below the detection limit of 10-9 after 3 days' duration, demonstrating the strategy integrating iron ion-inducible promoter PisiAB and that toxin/antitoxin modules could be a useful tool for cyanobacterium biocontainment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuqing Zhou
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Ministry of Education of China, Tianjin, 300072, P. R. China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin, 300072, P. R. China
| | | | - Zixi Chen
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Ministry of Education of China, Tianjin, 300072, P. R. China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin, 300072, P. R. China
| | | | - Lei Chen
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Ministry of Education of China, Tianjin, 300072, P. R. China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin, 300072, P. R. China
| | - Weiwen Zhang
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Ministry of Education of China, Tianjin, 300072, P. R. China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin, 300072, P. R. China
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Abstract
Cell-free systems (CFS) have recently evolved into key platforms for synthetic biology applications. Many synthetic biology tools have traditionally relied on cell-based systems, and while their adoption has shown great progress, the constraints inherent to the use of cellular hosts have limited their reach and scope. Cell-free systems, which can be thought of as programmable liquids, have removed many of these complexities and have brought about exciting opportunities for rational design and manipulation of biological systems. Here we review how these simple and accessible enzymatic systems are poised to accelerate the rate of advancement in synthetic biology and, more broadly, biotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aidan Tinafar
- Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 144 College St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3M2, Canada
| | - Katariina Jaenes
- Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 144 College St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3M2, Canada
| | - Keith Pardee
- Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 144 College St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3M2, Canada.
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Cheng S, Liu X, Jiang G, Wu J, Zhang JL, Lei D, Yuan YJ, Qiao J, Zhao GR. Orthogonal Engineering of Biosynthetic Pathway for Efficient Production of Limonene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ACS Synth Biol 2019; 8:968-975. [PMID: 31063692 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Limonene, a plant-derived natural cyclic monoterpene, is widely used in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics industries. The conventional limonene biosynthetic (CLB) pathway in engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae consists of heterologous limonene synthase (LS) using endogenous substrate geranyl diphosphate (GPP) and suffers from poor production of limonene. In this study, we report on an orthogonal engineering strategy in S. cerevisiae for improving the production of limonene. We reconstructed the orthogonal limonene biosynthetic (OLB) pathway composed of SlNDPS1 that catalyzes IPP and DMAPP to NPP ( cis-GPP) and plant LS that converts NPP to limonene. We find that the OLB pathway is more efficient for production of limonene than the CLB pathway. When expression of the competing gene ERG20 was chromosomally regulated by the glucose-sensing promoter HXT1, the OLB pathway-harboring strain produced 917.7 mg/L of limonene in fed-batch fermentation, a 6-fold increase of the CLB pathway, representing the highest titer reported to date. Orthogonal engineering exhibits great potential for production of terpenoids in S. cerevisiae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Si Cheng
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Xue Liu
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Guozhen Jiang
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Jihua Wu
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Jin-lai Zhang
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Dengwei Lei
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Ying-Jin Yuan
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
- SynBio Research Platform, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Jianjun Qiao
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
- SynBio Research Platform, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Guang-Rong Zhao
- Frontier Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
- SynBio Research Platform, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Yaguan Road 135, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, China
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Whitford CM, Dymek S, Kerkhoff D, März C, Schmidt O, Edich M, Droste J, Pucker B, Rückert C, Kalinowski J. Auxotrophy to Xeno-DNA: an exploration of combinatorial mechanisms for a high-fidelity biosafety system for synthetic biology applications. J Biol Eng 2018; 12:13. [PMID: 30123321 PMCID: PMC6090650 DOI: 10.1186/s13036-018-0105-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Biosafety is a key aspect in the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, which offers student teams an amazing opportunity to pursue their own research projects in the field of Synthetic Biology. iGEM projects often involve the creation of genetically engineered bacterial strains. To minimize the risks associated with bacterial release, a variety of biosafety systems were constructed, either to prevent survival of bacteria outside the lab or to hinder horizontal or vertical gene transfer. MAIN BODY Physical containment methods such as bioreactors or microencapsulation are considered the first safety level. Additionally, various systems involving auxotrophies for both natural and synthetic compounds have been utilized by iGEM teams in recent years. Combinatorial systems comprising multiple auxotrophies have been shown to reduced escape frequencies below the detection limit. Furthermore, a number of natural toxin-antitoxin systems can be deployed to kill cells under certain conditions. Additionally, parts of naturally occurring toxin-antitoxin systems can be used for the construction of 'kill switches' controlled by synthetic regulatory modules, allowing control of cell survival. Kill switches prevent cell survival but do not completely degrade nucleic acids. To avoid horizontal gene transfer, multiple mechanisms to cleave nucleic acids can be employed, resulting in 'self-destruction' of cells. Changes in light or temperature conditions are powerful regulators of gene expression and could serve as triggers for kill switches or self-destruction systems. Xenobiology-based containment uses applications of Xeno-DNA, recoded codons and non-canonical amino acids to nullify the genetic information of constructed cells for wild type organisms. A 'minimal genome' approach brings the opportunity to reduce the genome of a cell to only genes necessary for survival under lab conditions. Such cells are unlikely to survive in the natural environment and are thus considered safe hosts. If suitable for the desired application, a shift to cell-free systems based on Xeno-DNA may represent the ultimate biosafety system. CONCLUSION Here we describe different containment approaches in synthetic biology, ranging from auxotrophies to minimal genomes, which can be combined to significantly improve reliability. Since the iGEM competition greatly increases the number of people involved in synthetic biology, we will focus especially on biosafety systems developed and applied in the context of the iGEM competition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Saskia Dymek
- Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Denise Kerkhoff
- Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Camilla März
- Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Olga Schmidt
- Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Maximilian Edich
- Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Julian Droste
- Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Boas Pucker
- Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Present address: Evolution and Diversity, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Christian Rückert
- Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Jörn Kalinowski
- Center for Biotechnology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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Precise control of SCRaMbLE in synthetic haploid and diploid yeast. Nat Commun 2018; 9:1933. [PMID: 29789567 PMCID: PMC5964104 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03084-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2017] [Accepted: 01/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Compatibility between host cells and heterologous pathways is a challenge for constructing organisms with high productivity or gain of function. Designer yeast cells incorporating the Synthetic Chromosome Rearrangement and Modification by LoxP-mediated Evolution (SCRaMbLE) system provide a platform for generating genotype diversity. Here we construct a genetic AND gate to enable precise control of the SCRaMbLE method to generate synthetic haploid and diploid yeast with desired phenotypes. The yield of carotenoids is increased to 1.5-fold by SCRaMbLEing haploid strains and we determine that the deletion of YEL013W is responsible for the increase. Based on the SCRaMbLEing in diploid strains, we develop a strategy called Multiplex SCRaMbLE Iterative Cycling (MuSIC) to increase the production of carotenoids up to 38.8-fold through 5 iterative cycles of SCRaMbLE. This strategy is potentially a powerful tool for increasing the production of bio-based chemicals and for mining deep knowledge. The SCRaMbLE system integrated into Sc2.0’s synthetic yeast chromosome project allows rapid strain evolution. Here the authors use a genetic logic gate to control induction of recombination in a haploid and diploid yeast carrying synthetic chromosomes.
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Dynamic allocation of orthogonal ribosomes facilitates uncoupling of co-expressed genes. Nat Commun 2018; 9:695. [PMID: 29449554 PMCID: PMC5814443 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-02898-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2017] [Accepted: 01/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction of synthetic circuits into microbes creates competition between circuit and host genes for shared cellular resources, such as ribosomes. This can lead to the emergence of unwanted coupling between the expression of different circuit genes, complicating the design process and potentially leading to circuit failure. By expressing a synthetic 16S rRNA with altered specificity, we can partition the ribosome pool into host-specific and circuit-specific activities. We show mathematically and experimentally that the effects of resource competition can be alleviated by targeting genes to different ribosomal pools. This division of labour can be used to increase flux through a metabolic pathway. We develop a model of cell physiology which is able to capture these observations and use it to design a dynamic resource allocation controller. When implemented, this controller acts to decouple genes by increasing orthogonal ribosome production as the demand for translational resources by a synthetic circuit increases.
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