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Grazioli S, Petris G. Synthetic genomics for curing genetic diseases. PROGRESS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE 2021; 182:477-520. [PMID: 34175051 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pmbts.2021.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
From the beginning of the genome sequencing era, it has become increasingly evident that genetics plays a role in all diseases, of which only a minority are single-gene disorders, the most common target of current gene therapies. However, the majority of people have some kind of health problems resulting from congenital genetic mutations (over 6000 diseases have been associated to genes, https://www.omim.org/statistics/geneMap) and most genetic disorders are rare and only incompletely understood. The vision and techniques applied to the synthesis of genomes may help to address unmet medical needs from a chromosome and genome-scale perspective. In this chapter, we address the potential therapy of genetic diseases from a different outlook, in which we no longer focus on small gene corrections but on higher-order tools for genome manipulation. These will play a crucial role in the next years, as they prelude to a much deeper understanding of the architecture of the human genome and a more accurate modeling of human diseases, offering new therapeutic opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gianluca Petris
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB), Cambridge, United Kingdom.
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Zhang JJ, Tang X, Moore BS. Genetic platforms for heterologous expression of microbial natural products. Nat Prod Rep 2019; 36:1313-1332. [PMID: 31197291 PMCID: PMC6750982 DOI: 10.1039/c9np00025a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Covering: 2005 up to 2019Natural products are of paramount importance in human medicine. Not only are most antibacterial and anticancer drugs derived directly from or inspired by natural products, many other branches of medicine, such as immunology, neurology, and cardiology, have similarly benefited from natural product-based drugs. Typically, the genetic material required to synthesize a microbial specialized product is arranged in a multigene biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC), which codes for proteins associated with molecule construction, regulation, and transport. The ability to connect natural product compounds to BGCs and vice versa, along with ever-increasing knowledge of biosynthetic machineries, has spawned the field of genomics-guided natural product genome mining for the rational discovery of new chemical entities. One significant challenge in the field of natural product genome mining is how to rapidly link orphan biosynthetic genes to their associated chemical products. This review highlights state-of-the-art genetic platforms to identify, interrogate, and engineer BGCs from diverse microbial sources, which can be broken into three stages: (1) cloning and isolation of genomic loci, (2) heterologous expression in a host organism, and (3) genetic manipulation of cloned pathways. In the future, we envision natural product genome mining will be rapidly accelerated by de novo DNA synthesis and refactoring of whole biosynthetic pathways in combination with systematic heterologous expression methodologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Jia Zhang
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
| | - Xiaoyu Tang
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
| | - Bradley S Moore
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA. and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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Chen GQ, Jiang XR, Guo Y. Synthetic biology of microbes synthesizing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). Synth Syst Biotechnol 2016; 1:236-242. [PMID: 29062949 PMCID: PMC5625728 DOI: 10.1016/j.synbio.2016.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2016] [Revised: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 09/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) have been produced as bioplastics for various purposes. Under the support of China National Basic Research 973 Project, we developed synthetic biology methods to diversify the PHA structures into homo-, random, block polymers with improved properties to better meet various application requirements. At the same time, various pathways were assembled to produce various PHA from glucose as a simple carbon source. At the end, Halomonas bacteria were reconstructed to produce PHA in changing morphology for low cost production under unsterile and continuous conditions. The synthetic biology will advance the PHA into a bio- and material industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo-Qiang Chen
- School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.,Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.,Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.,Center for Nano and Micro Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.,MOE Key Lab of Industrial Biocatalysis, Dept Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Xiao-Ran Jiang
- School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.,Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.,Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Yingying Guo
- School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.,Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.,Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Jiang W, Zhu TF. Targeted isolation and cloning of 100-kb microbial genomic sequences by Cas9-assisted targeting of chromosome segments. Nat Protoc 2016; 11:960-75. [PMID: 27101517 DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2016.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Cloning of long microbial genomic sequences is an essential tool in synthetic biology and genome engineering. Such long sequences are often difficult to obtain directly by traditional PCR or restriction enzyme digestion, and therefore the cloning of these sequences has remained a technical obstacle in molecular biology. Based on the in vitro application of RNA-guided Cas9 nuclease, the method of Cas9-assisted targeting of chromosome segments (CATCH) cleaves target DNA in vitro from intact bacterial chromosomes embedded in agarose plugs, which can be subsequently ligated with cloning vector through Gibson assembly. Here we describe an optimized protocol of CATCH cloning for the targeted cloning of long genomic sequences of up to 100 kb from microorganisms. The protocol uses standard laboratory equipment and takes ∼8 h of bench time over several days, and it may potentially simplify and accelerate efforts to isolate and clone large gene clusters from microorganisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjun Jiang
- School of Life Sciences, Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Ting F Zhu
- School of Life Sciences, Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
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Jiang W, Zhao X, Gabrieli T, Lou C, Ebenstein Y, Zhu TF. Cas9-Assisted Targeting of CHromosome segments CATCH enables one-step targeted cloning of large gene clusters. Nat Commun 2015; 6:8101. [PMID: 26323354 PMCID: PMC4569707 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 168] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2015] [Accepted: 07/16/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The cloning of long DNA segments, especially those containing large gene clusters, is of particular importance to synthetic and chemical biology efforts for engineering organisms. While cloning has been a defining tool in molecular biology, the cloning of long genome segments has been challenging. Here we describe a technique that allows the targeted cloning of near-arbitrary, long bacterial genomic sequences of up to 100 kb to be accomplished in a single step. The target genome segment is excised from bacterial chromosomes in vitro by the RNA-guided Cas9 nuclease at two designated loci, and ligated to the cloning vector by Gibson assembly. This technique can be an effective molecular tool for the targeted cloning of large gene clusters that are often expensive to synthesize by gene synthesis or difficult to obtain directly by traditional PCR and restriction-enzyme-based methods. Genomic engineering often requires the cloning of long DNA segments that contain large gene clusters. Here, the authors describe an RNA-guided Cas9 nuclease assisted in vitro technique that allows the targeted cloning of near-arbitrary, long bacterial genomic sequences of up to 100 kb in a single step.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjun Jiang
- School of Life Sciences, Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Xuejin Zhao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Tslil Gabrieli
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Chunbo Lou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yuval Ebenstein
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Ting F Zhu
- School of Life Sciences, Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Xu P, Koffas MAG. Assembly of multi-gene pathways and combinatorial pathway libraries through ePathBrick vectors. Methods Mol Biol 2013; 1073:107-129. [PMID: 23996443 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-62703-625-2_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
As an emerging discipline, synthetic biology is becoming increasingly important to design, construct, and optimize metabolic pathways leading to desired phenotypes such as overproduction of biofuels and pharmaceuticals in genetically tractable organisms. We have recently developed a versatile gene assembly platform ePathBricks supporting the modular assembly of multi-gene pathway components and combinatorial generation of pathway diversities. In this protocol, we will detail the process to assemble a seven gene flavonoid pathway (~9 kb) on one single ePathBrick vector. We will also demonstrate that a three-gene flavonoid pathway can be easily diversified to 54 pathway equivalents differing in pathway configuration and gene order; coupled with high-throughput screening techniques, we envision that this combinatorial strategy would greatly improve our ability to exploit the full potential of microbial cell factories for recombinant metabolite production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Xu
- Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA
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Engineering plant metabolism into microbes: from systems biology to synthetic biology. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2012; 24:291-9. [PMID: 22985679 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2012.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2012] [Revised: 08/21/2012] [Accepted: 08/27/2012] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Plant metabolism represents an enormous repository of compounds that are of pharmaceutical and biotechnological importance. Engineering plant metabolism into microbes will provide sustainable solutions to produce pharmaceutical and fuel molecules that could one day replace substantial portions of the current fossil-fuel based economy. Metabolic engineering entails targeted manipulation of biosynthetic pathways to maximize yields of desired products. Recent advances in Systems Biology and the emergence of Synthetic Biology have accelerated our ability to design, construct and optimize cell factories for metabolic engineering applications. Progress in predicting and modeling genome-scale metabolic networks, versatile gene assembly platforms and delicate synthetic pathway optimization strategies has provided us exciting opportunities to exploit the full potential of cell metabolism. In this review, we will discuss how systems and synthetic biology tools can be integrated to create tailor-made cell factories for efficient production of natural products and fuel molecules in microorganisms.
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