Tuning Interdomain Conjugation Toward in situ Population Modification in Yeast

Area of Science:

• Microbiome Engineering
• Synthetic Biology
• Fungal Biotechnology

Background:

• Controlling microbial communities is vital for biotechnology and biomedicine.
• Fungal modification technologies lag behind bacterial systems.
• Interdomain conjugation (IDC) allows DNA transfer from bacteria to yeast for *in situ* modification.

Conclusions:

• Optimized bacterial-yeast interactions, specifically commensalism, significantly enhance interdomain conjugation efficiency.
• Cell-to-cell binding and population dynamics offer predictable control over IDC.
• IDC is a powerful tool for engineering microbiomes, enabling targeted genetic modification of fungal populations for diverse applications.