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Constructing "quantized quorums" to guide emergent phenotypes through quorum quenching capsules
Amin Zargar1,2, David N Quan1,2, Nadia Abutaleb1,2
1Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR), University of Maryland, 5115 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, Maryland 20742.
Biotechnology and Bioengineering
|August 21, 2016
Summary
Researchers developed quorum quenching capsules to control microbial consortia composition and function. These capsules enable precise partitioning of cell populations, enhancing synthetic biology applications in metabolic engineering and disease treatment.
Area of Science:
- Synthetic Biology
- Metabolic Engineering
- Microbial Consortia
Background:
- Microbial cells are engineered for producing biologics and chemicals.
- Metabolic burden from synthetic components can impair cell performance.
- Microbial consortia offer division of labor but lack compositional control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a facile and general platform for creating "quantized quorums."
- To enable precise control over microbial consortia composition and function.
- To partition quorum sensing (QS)-mediated phenotypes into discrete subpopulations.
Main Methods:
- Constructed quorum quenching capsules using alginate-chitosan beads.
- Encapsulated high-efficiency (HE) controller cells within the capsules.
- Controller cells rapidly uptake the QS signal molecule AI-2, depleting it from wild-type populations.
Main Results:
- Developed a novel platform for creating "quantized quorums" independent of QS-mutant populations.
- Capsular devices partitioned QS-mediated phenotypes in a dose-dependent manner.
- Achieved orthogonal control of population composition with minimal interaction.
Conclusions:
- Compartmentalized control of QS provides a robust method for managing microbial consortia.
- This methodology offers a generalizable platform for synthetic biology applications.
- Envisioned applications include metabolic engineering and human disease interventions.
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