Living materials with programmable functionalities grown from engineered microbial co-cultures

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Synthetic Biology
• Microbiology

Background:

• Biological systems exhibit self-patterning, self-repair, and environmental sensing capabilities.
• Engineered living materials (ELMs) aim to replicate natural biomaterial properties using genetically modified organisms.
• Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a natural biomaterial with unique properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel platform for fabricating functional bacterial cellulose-based engineered living materials.
• To explore the use of a stable co-culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and Komagataeibacter rhaeticus bacteria for material fabrication.
• To demonstrate the potential for creating autonomously catalytic and responsive living materials.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a stable co-culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Komagataeibacter rhaeticus.
• Engineered yeast strains to secrete enzymes into the bacterial cellulose matrix.
• Incorporated engineered yeast directly within the growing cellulose matrix.
• Investigated DNA-encoded modification of bacterial cellulose properties.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated bacterial cellulose-based living materials.
• Demonstrated yeast secretion of enzymes for autonomously grown catalytic materials.
• Enabled DNA-encoded modification of bacterial cellulose bulk properties.
• Created living materials capable of sensing and responding to chemical and optical stimuli.

Conclusions:

• A symbiotic co-culture of yeast and bacteria provides a flexible platform for producing engineered living materials.
• These BC-based ELMs offer potential applications in biosensing and biocatalysis.
• The developed approach enables the creation of functional, responsive, and customizable living materials.