Guiding bacteria with small molecules and RNA.
Chemotactic bacteria navigate their chemical environment by coupling sophisticated information processing capabilities to molecular motors that propel the cells forward. The ability to reprogram bacteria to follow entirely new chemical signals would create powerful new opportunities in bioremediation, bionanotechnology, and synthetic biology. However, the complexities of bacterial signaling and limitations of current protein engineering methods combine to make reprogramming bacteria to follow novel molecules a difficult task. Here we show that by using a synthetic riboswitch rather than an engineered protein to recognize a ligand, E. coli can be guided toward and precisely localized to a completely new chemical signal.
Topp
Shana
S
Department of Chemistry and Center for Fundamental and Applied Molecular Evolution, Emory University, 1515 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
Gallivan
Justin P
JP
D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000502:physiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D000072236:Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013806:Theophylline / Q000494:pharmacology
D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D000072236:Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D002110:Caffeine; D013806:Theophylline