Engineering Bacteria to Search for Specific Concentrations of Molecules by a Systematic Synthetic Biology Design Method.
Bacteria navigate environments full of various chemicals to seek favorable places for survival by controlling the flagella's rotation using a complicated signal transduction pathway. By influencing the pathway, bacteria can be engineered to search for specific molecules, which has great potential for application to biomedicine and bioremediation. In this study, genetic circuits were constructed to make bacteria search for a specific molecule at particular concentrations in their environment through a synthetic biology method. In addition, by replacing the "brake component" in the synthetic circuit with some specific sensitivities, the bacteria can be engineered to locate areas containing specific concentrations of the molecule. Measured by the swarm assay qualitatively and microfluidic techniques quantitatively, the characteristics of each "brake component" were identified and represented by a mathematical model. Furthermore, we established another mathematical model to anticipate the characteristics of the "brake component". Based on this model, an abundant component library can be established to provide adequate component selection for different searching conditions without identifying all components individually. Finally, a systematic design procedure was proposed. Following this systematic procedure, one can design a genetic circuit for bacteria to rapidly search for and locate different concentrations of particular molecules by selecting the most adequate "brake component" in the library. Moreover, following simple procedures, one can also establish an exclusive component library suitable for other cultivated environments, promoter systems, or bacterial strains.
Lab of Control and Systems Biology, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Shin-Ming
SM
Tien
Lab of Control and Systems Biology, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Chih-Yuan
CY
Hsu
Lab of Control and Systems Biology, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Bor-Sen
BS
Chen
D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D015723:Gene Library; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D015398:Signal Transduction; D058615:Synthetic Biology
D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins