Selective Covalent Assembly of Gram-Negative Bacteria and Synthetic Polymers into Functional Living Materials

Area of Science:

• Synthetic biology
• Materials science
• Microbiology

Background:

• Developing functional living materials requires precise control over the integration of biological components with synthetic systems.
• Existing methods often lack specificity or stability when assembling cells with polymers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a selective covalent assembly method for Gram-negative bacteria and synthetic polymers.
• To create functional living materials with engineered properties such as pigment production and biocontainment.

Main Methods:

• Utilized triblock polymers functionalized with vinyl sulfone (VS) to form stable covalent bonds with bacterial surface proteins.
• Investigated the cell-type specificity of the covalent assembly process across different bacterial species.
• Demonstrated in situ melanin production and pigment generation within the assembled living materials.

Main Results:

• Achieved stable, covalent assembly between Gram-negative bacteria and synthetic polymers.
• Demonstrated cell-type specificity, with assembly occurring exclusively in Gram-negative bacteria.
• Engineered living materials exhibited in situ melanin production and spontaneous enrichment of other pigments, indicating successful functionalization and confinement effects.

Conclusions:

• Established a versatile platform for creating functional living materials through selective covalent assembly of Gram-negative bacteria.
• The developed method offers robust biocontainment and mechanical reinforcement for engineered living materials.
• This approach enables the development of advanced material-based bioreactors with encoded biological functions.