Engineering NIR-sighted bacteria

Spatially and temporally orchestrated gene expression underpins organismal development, physiology, and adaptation. In bacteria, two-component systems (TCS) translate environmental cues into inducible expression outputs. Inducible expression also serves as a versatile instrument in both basic and applied science. Here, we harness the photosensors of rhizobial bathy-phytochromes to construct synthetic TCSs for stringent activation of gene expression by near-infrared (NIR) light in laboratory and probiotic Escherichia coli strains, and in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Orthogonal TCSs afford the multiplexed expression control of several genes by NIR and visible light. Notwithstanding substantial photochemical activation of bathy-phytochromes by visible radiation, the NIR-light-responsive systems hardly responded to red light. Evidently, light signals can be processed by TCSs into highly nonlinear responses at the physiologically relevant level of gene expression. These fundamental aspects likely extend to naturally occurring TCSs. Depending on their photosensor traits and environmental conditions, bathy-phytochromes may thus either be NIR-specific or function as colorblind receptors of light vs. darkness.