title: Photocaged Arabinose: A Novel Optogenetic Switch for Rapid and Gradual Control of Microbial Gene Expression.
abstract: Controlling cellular functions by light allows simple triggering of biological processes in a non-invasive fashion with high spatiotemporal resolution. In this context, light-regulated gene expression has enormous potential for achieving optogenetic control over almost any cellular process. Here, we report on two novel one-step cleavable photocaged arabinose compounds, which were applied as light-sensitive inducers of transcription in bacteria. Exposure of caged arabinose to UV-A light resulted in rapid activation of protein production, as demonstrated for GFP and the complete violacein biosynthetic pathway. Moreover, single-cell analysis revealed that intrinsic heterogeneity of arabinose-mediated induction of gene expression was overcome when using photocaged arabinose. We have thus established a novel phototrigger for synthetic bio(techno)logy applications that enables precise and homogeneous control of bacterial target gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bier
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grünberger
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drobietz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hage-Hülsmann
authors.affiliation: AVT-Biochemical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 1, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wandrey
authors.affiliation: AVT-Biochemical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 1, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Büchs
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kohlheyer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loeschcke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wiechert
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.|Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl-Erich
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Jaeger
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.|Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pietruszka
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stetternicher Forst, 52426, Jülich, Germany. t.drepper@fz-juelich.de.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Drepper
mesh_terms: D001089:Arabinose / Q000378:metabolism*; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000528:radiation effects; D002861:Chromobacterium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000528:radiation effects; D007211:Indoles / Q000378:metabolism; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000528:radiation effects; D062308:Optogenetics / Q000379:methods*; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D007211:Indoles; D001089:Arabinose; C063155:violacein
keywords: caged compounds; gene expression; optogenetics; photochemistry; synthetic biology