Recent advances in genetic tools for engineering probiotic lactic acid bacteria

Area of Science:

• Synthetic biology
• Microbiology
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Synthetic biology is rapidly advancing with diverse applications.
• Exploiting the link between microorganisms, biologics, and human health is a key emerging area.
• Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are suitable chassis organisms for genetic engineering in therapeutic and industrial contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively review synthetic biology techniques for engineering probiotic LAB strains.
• To discuss heterologous protein expression systems for LAB engineering.
• To highlight the potential of combining computational biology and genetic engineering for next-generation LAB.

Main Methods:

• Review of synthetic biology techniques including CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, homologous recombination, and recombineering.
• Discussion of heterologous protein expression systems in LAB.
• Exploration of computational biology applications in genetic engineering.

Main Results:

• Various synthetic biology tools are available for engineering LAB.
• Effective engineering of LAB requires careful selection of tools and chassis.
• Potential exists for developing advanced LAB strains for industrial scale-up and biologics production.

Conclusions:

• Genetic engineering of LAB using synthetic biology tools offers significant potential for biomedical applications.
• The Lactochassis project aims to develop next-generation synthetic LAB for biomedical use.
• Combining computational and genetic engineering approaches can overcome current limitations in LAB development.