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Lee H, Baek JI, Kim SJ, Kwon KK, Rha E, Yeom SJ, Kim H, Lee DH, Kim DM, Lee SG. Sensitive and Rapid Phenotyping of Microbes With Soluble Methane Monooxygenase Using a Droplet-Based Assay. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:358. [PMID: 32391352 PMCID: PMC7193049 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Methanotrophs with soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) show high potential for various ecological and biotechnological applications. Here, we developed a high throughput method to identify sMMO-producing microbes by integrating droplet microfluidics and a genetic circuit-based biosensor system. sMMO-producers and sensor cells were encapsulated in monodispersed droplets with benzene as the substrate and incubated for 5 h. The sensor cells were analyzed as the reporter for phenol-sensitive transcription activation of fluorescence. Various combinations of methanotrophs and biosensor cells were investigated to optimize the performance of our droplet-integrated transcriptional factor biosensor system. As a result, the conditions to ensure sMMO activity to convert the starting material, benzene, into phenol, were determined. The biosensor signals were sensitive and quantitative under optimal conditions, showing that phenol is metabolically stable within both cell species and accumulates in picoliter-sized droplets, and the biosensor cells are healthy enough to respond quantitatively to the phenol produced. These results show that our system would be useful for rapid evaluation of phenotypes of methanotrophs showing sMMO activity, while minimizing the necessity of time-consuming cultivation and enzyme preparation, which are required for conventional analysis of sMMO activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyewon Lee
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Ji In Baek
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Su Jin Kim
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Kil Koang Kwon
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Eugene Rha
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Soo-Jin Yeom
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
- School of Biological Sciences and Technology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea
| | - Haseong Kim
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
- Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Dae-Hee Lee
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
- Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Dong-Myung Kim
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Seung-Goo Lee
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea
- Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
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Ngara TR, Zhang H. Recent Advances in Function-based Metagenomic Screening. GENOMICS PROTEOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS 2018; 16:405-415. [PMID: 30597257 PMCID: PMC6411959 DOI: 10.1016/j.gpb.2018.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2017] [Revised: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Metagenomes from uncultured microorganisms are rich resources for novel enzyme genes. The methods used to screen the metagenomic libraries fall into two categories, which are based on sequence or function of the enzymes. The sequence-based approaches rely on the known sequences of the target gene families. In contrast, the function-based approaches do not involve the incorporation of metagenomic sequencing data and, therefore, may lead to the discovery of novel gene sequences with desired functions. In this review, we discuss the function-based screening strategies that have been used in the identification of enzymes from metagenomes. Because of its simplicity, agar plate screening is most commonly used in the identification of novel enzymes with diverse functions. Other screening methods with higher sensitivity are also employed, such as microtiter plate screening. Furthermore, several ultra-high-throughput methods were developed to deal with large metagenomic libraries. Among these are the FACS-based screening, droplet-based screening, and the in vivo reporter-based screening methods. The application of these novel screening strategies has increased the chance for the discovery of novel enzyme genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanyaradzwa Rodgers Ngara
- Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, MOE Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Houjin Zhang
- Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, MOE Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Wuhan 430074, China.
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