Rim aperture of yeast autophagic membranes balances cargo inclusion with vesicle maturation

Autophagy eliminates cytoplasmic material by engulfment in membranous vesicles targeted for lysosome degradation. Nonselective autophagy coordinates sequestration of bulk cargo with the growth of the isolation membrane (IM) in a yet-unknown manner. Here, we show that in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, IMs expand while maintaining a rim sufficiently wide for sequestration of large cargo but tight enough to mature in due time. An obligate complex of Atg24/Snx4 with Atg20 or Snx41 assembles locally at the rim in a spatially extended manner that specifically depends on autophagic PI(3)P. This assembly stabilizes the open rim to promote autophagic sequestration of large cargo in correlation with vesicle expansion. Moreover, constriction of the rim by the PI(3)P-dependent Atg2-Atg18 complex and clearance of PI(3)P by Ymr1 antagonize rim opening to promote autophagic maturation and consumption of small cargo. Tight regulation of membrane rim aperture by PI(3)P thus couples the mechanism and physiology of nonselective autophagy.

Diverse genetic error modes constrain large-scale bio-based production

A transition toward sustainable bio-based chemical production is important for green growth. However, productivity and yield frequently decrease as large-scale microbial fermentation progresses, commonly ascribed to phenotypic variation. Yet, given the high metabolic burden and toxicities, evolutionary processes may also constrain bio-based production. We experimentally simulate large-scale fermentation with mevalonic acid-producing Escherichia coli. By tracking growth rate and production, we uncover how populations fully sacrifice production to gain fitness within 70 generations. Using ultra-deep (>1000×) time-lapse sequencing of the pathway populations, we identify multiple recurring intra-pathway genetic error modes. This genetic heterogeneity is only detected using deep-sequencing and new population-level bioinformatics, suggesting that the problem is underestimated. A quantitative model explains the population dynamics based on enrichment of spontaneous mutant cells. We validate our model by tuning production load and escape rate of the production host and apply multiple orthogonal strategies for postponing genetically driven production declines.

The declining performance of scale-up bioreactor cultures is commonly attributed to phenotypic and physical heterogeneities. Here, the authors reveal multiple recurring intra-pathway error modes that limit engineered E. coli mevalonic acid production over time- and industrial-scale fermentations.

Molecular Buffers Permit Sensitivity Tuning and Inversion of Riboswitch Signals

Predictable integration of foreign biological signals and parts remains a key challenge in the systematic engineering of synthetic cellular actuations, and general methods to improve signal transduction and sensitivity are needed. To address this problem we modeled and built a molecular signal buffer network in Saccharomyces cerevisiae inspired by chemical pH buffer systems. The molecular buffer system context-insulates a riboswitch enabling synthetic control of colony formation and modular signal manipulations. The riboswitch signal is relayed to a transcriptional activation domain of a split transcription factor, while interacting DNA-binding domains mediate the transduction of signal and form an interacting molecular buffer. The molecular buffer system enables modular signal inversion through integration with repressor modules. Further, tuning of input sensitivity was achieved through perturbation of the buffer pair ratio guided by a mathematical model. Such buffered signal tuning networks will be useful for domestication of RNA-based sensors enabling tunable outputs and library-wide selections for drug discovery and metabolic engineering.