GPCR-Based Chemical Biosensors for Medium-Chain Fatty Acids
Kuntal Mukherjee1, Souryadeep Bhattacharyya2, Pamela Peralta-Yahya1,2
1School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.
ACS Synthetic Biology
|May 21, 2015
Summary
Researchers developed novel whole-cell biosensors for detecting medium-chain fatty acids in yeast. This breakthrough enables high-throughput screening for engineering microbes to produce valuable chemicals and biofuels like fatty acid methyl esters.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Synthetic Biology
- Microbial Engineering
Background:
- Chemical production via microbial engineering is limited by low-throughput screening methods.
- Many valuable chemicals lack colorimetric properties, necessitating advanced sensor development for high-throughput screening.
- Medium-chain fatty acids are crucial precursors for advanced biofuels, such as fatty acid methyl esters.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer high-throughput chemical sensors in yeast using G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs).
- To develop whole-cell biosensors for detecting medium-chain fatty acids.
- To demonstrate the adaptability of GPCR-based sensors for various chemical production applications.
Main Methods:
- Utilized mammalian G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) known to bind medium-chain fatty acids.
- Constructed and implemented these GPCRs as chemical sensors within yeast.
- Introduced synthetic response units to modulate sensor dynamic and linear ranges.
Main Results:
- Developed a sensor for even-chain C8-C12 fatty acids with a 13- to 17-fold signal increase and linear range up to 250 μM.
- Modified a sensor for decanoic acid using a synthetic response unit, achieving a 30-fold signal increase and a 500 μM linear range.
- This represents the first report of a whole-cell medium-chain fatty acid biosensor.
Conclusions:
- GPCR-based whole-cell biosensors offer a rapid and versatile platform for detecting medium-chain fatty acids.
- These biosensors can be readily adapted for evolutionary engineering of microbial chemical production.
- The modular nature of GPCRs allows for the facile assembly of new sensors for diverse applications requiring specific dynamic and linear ranges.
