Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Combinatorial Gene Control

Combinatorial Gene Control

Combinatorial gene control is the synergistic action of several transcriptional factors to regulate the expression of a single gene. The absence of one or more of these factors may lead to a significant difference in the level of gene expression or repression.
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary science that involves using principles from disciplines such as engineering, molecular biology, cell biology, and systems biology. It involves remodeling existing organisms from nature or constructing completely new synthetic organisms for applications such as protein or enzyme production, bioremediation, value-added macromolecule production, and the addition of desirable traits to crops, to name a few.
Golden rice
Golden rice is a genetically modified...

Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation

Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation

Because the DNA segments are cut and reorganized in a direction-specific manner, site-specific recombination has emerged as an efficient genetic engineering technique. Flippase and Cyclization recombinases or Flp and Cre, respectively, are two members of the tyrosine recombinase family derived from bacteriophages, that are used to mediate site-specific DNA insertions, deletions, and targeted expression of proteins in mammalian cell lines.
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Intracellular acidification by microbiota-derived valeric acid facilitates trans-kingdom ecology limiting Candida parapsilosis colonization.

Cell host & microbe·2026

Same author

Gut Commensals Regulate the Intestinal Kynurenine Pathway.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

A microbiota-derived bile acid overcomes antibiotic-induced hyporesponsiveness to immune checkpoint therapy by enhancing CD8 <sup>+</sup> T cell antitumor immunity.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Polystyrene microplastics disrupt the blood-testis barrier via CEBPB-driven lysosomal autophagy and induce ferroptosis-like injury in human sperm, compromising embryo development.

Journal of hazardous materials·2026

Same author

Single-cell and spatial transcriptomic analysis reveals PAX5's role and regulatory mechanisms in gastric adenocarcinoma lymph node metastasis.

Journal of translational medicine·2026

Same author

Nanoscale greenhouse effect for promoting solar-driven CO<sub>2</sub> reduction with water to CH<sub>4</sub>.

Nature communications·2026

Same journal

Correction to 'scSuperAnnotator: A platform for benchmarking comparison and visualizing automated cellular annotation methods for scRNA-seq data'.

Nucleic acids research·2026

Same journal

Correction to 'Differentiable partition function calculation for RNA'.

Nucleic acids research·2026

Same journal

Deployment of non-canonical splicing in tunicate genomes is mediated by divergent U2AF function and changing m6A modification in U1 and U6 snRNA.

Nucleic acids research·2026

Same journal

Bacillus subtilis DnaB forms multiple protein-protein interactions essential for DNA replication initiation.

Nucleic acids research·2026

Same journal

Multiple forms of protein-protein and DNA binding are exhibited by BrxC from the BREX phage restriction system.

Nucleic acids research·2026

Same journal

Biosynthesis of glycosylated 5-hydroxycytosine in the DNA of diverse viruses.

Nucleic acids research·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 11, 2026

A Multilayer Microfluidic Platform for the Conduction of Prolonged Cell-Free Gene Expression

A Multilayer Microfluidic Platform for the Conduction of Prolonged Cell-Free Gene Expression

Published on: October 6, 2019

Engineering robust and tunable spatial structures with synthetic gene circuits.

Wentao Kong^1,2, Andrew E Blanchard^2,3, Chen Liao^1,2

¹Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

Nucleic Acids Research

|December 1, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Synthetic biology circuits using nisin achieve robust and tunable spatial patterning in bacterial populations. These engineered systems create predictable cellular structures like stripes and spots without fine-tuning.

More Related Videos

Gene Digital Circuits Based on CRISPR-Cas Systems and Anti-CRISPR Proteins

Gene Digital Circuits Based on CRISPR-Cas Systems and Anti-CRISPR Proteins

Published on: October 18, 2022

Reliably Engineering and Controlling Stable Optogenetic Gene Circuits in Mammalian Cells

Reliably Engineering and Controlling Stable Optogenetic Gene Circuits in Mammalian Cells

Published on: July 6, 2021

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 11, 2026

A Multilayer Microfluidic Platform for the Conduction of Prolonged Cell-Free Gene Expression

A Multilayer Microfluidic Platform for the Conduction of Prolonged Cell-Free Gene Expression

Published on: October 6, 2019

Gene Digital Circuits Based on CRISPR-Cas Systems and Anti-CRISPR Proteins

Gene Digital Circuits Based on CRISPR-Cas Systems and Anti-CRISPR Proteins

Published on: October 18, 2022

Reliably Engineering and Controlling Stable Optogenetic Gene Circuits in Mammalian Cells

Reliably Engineering and Controlling Stable Optogenetic Gene Circuits in Mammalian Cells

Published on: July 6, 2021

Area of Science:

Synthetic Biology
Microbial Ecology
Systems Biology

Background:

Controllable spatial patterning is crucial for engineering biological systems.
Synthetic gene circuits offer potential but require robustness and tunability.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop simple synthetic circuits for programmed spatial patterning in Lactococcus lactis.
To leverage nisin's dual signaling and antibiotic properties for robust and tunable pattern formation.

Main Methods:

Engineered synthetic gene circuits in Lactococcus lactis utilizing nisin.
Applied external nisin gradients to control pattern formation.
Tested patterns with structured nisin-producing bacteria and multi-species communities.

Main Results:

Demonstrated programmed spatial band-pass structures without fine-tuning.
Achieved robust patterns resistant to environmental and cellular perturbations.
Showcased high tunability of band widths via nisin gradient and cellular immunity.
Generated predictable synthetic community structures, cellular stripes, and spots.
Validated patterns using a mathematical model.

Conclusions:

Nisin-based synthetic circuits provide robust and tunable tools for spatial patterning.
This approach enables predictable construction of synthetic communities and cellular arrays.
Exploiting natural biological functionalities is key for robust and tunable synthetic systems.