A yeast surface display platform for plant hormone receptors: Toward directed evolution of new biosensors

Abstract

Small‐molecule biosensors have major applications in biotechnology and medicine but remain difficult to engineer. Plant hormone receptors represent an attractive platform for engineering such biosensors because their chemically induced dimerization architectures naturally decouple small‐molecule sensing and sensor actuation. Rapid biosensor engineering will require quantitative high‐throughput screening methods. Here we develop a yeast surface display (YSD) platform for the PYR1/HAB1 abscisic acid sensor of Arabidopsis thaliana. We extensively optimized PYR1 surface display, HAB1 purification, and binding reaction conditions. Our system reproduces previous results with wild‐type and engineered receptors, and a mathematical analysis of the PYR1/HAB1 system allows us to infer all binding constants. Critically, we find that a previously engineered PYR1 receptor with altered ligand specificity binds HAB1 with identical affinity, suggesting that substantial reengineering of the PYR1 binding pocket does not compromise sensor actuation. This YSD platform for A. thaliana PYR1/HAB1 will facilitate future biosensor engineering efforts.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Sep 10, 2019
Source ID
10.1002/aic.16767

Entities

People

  • Angélica V. Medina‐cucurella
  • Matthew A Bedewitz
  • Paul J Steiner
  • Sean Cutler
  • Timothy A Whitehead

Organizations

  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • Michigan State University
  • University of Colorado

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Breast cancer cell signaling and growth regulation.
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Nanocomposite Materials Science

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • Biotechnology