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Quorum Sensing Communication Modules for Microbial Consortia.

Spencer R Scott1, Jeff Hasty1

  • 1Department of Bioengineering, ‡Molecular Biology Section, Division of Biological Science, and ¶BioCircuits Institute, University of California , San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States.

ACS Synthetic Biology
|May 13, 2016
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Engineered microbial consortia can perform complex tasks through synthetic ecology. Researchers developed new communication systems, enhancing quorum sensing for precise control in microbial communities.

Keywords:
crosstalkmicrobial consortiaorthogonalquorum sensingsynthetic ecology

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Area of Science:

  • Synthetic biology
  • Microbial ecology
  • Genetic engineering

Background:

  • Single engineered organisms have limited genetic modification capacity.
  • Synthetic ecology, engineering microbial consortia, offers a new frontier.
  • Effective communication is key for microbial communities to outperform monocultures.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop communication systems for microbial consortia.
  • To enable complex social behaviors within engineered microbial communities.
  • To enhance the control and versatility of engineered microbial ecosystems.

Main Methods:

  • Engineered two new quorum sensing systems (rpa and tra) by modifying promoters and proteins.
  • Expanded the repertoire of existing lux and las systems.
  • Tested for cross-talk between all engineered and existing quorum sensing systems.

Main Results:

  • Characterized new inducible systems for versatile control of microbial consortia.
  • Identified system pairs with useful orthogonality.
  • Demonstrated complete orthogonality between the tra and rpa systems, with no signal or promoter cross-talk.

Conclusions:

  • Developed and characterized novel quorum sensing systems for microbial consortia.
  • Established orthogonal communication channels for higher-level genetic circuitry.
  • Enabled precise control and complex behaviors in engineered microbial communities.