Chemical Evolution of a Bacterial Proteome
Abstract
We have changed the amino acid set of the genetic code of Escherichia coli by evolving cultures capable of growing on the synthetic noncanonical amino acid L‐β‐(thieno[3,2‐b]pyrrolyl)alanine ([3,2]Tpa) as a sole surrogate for the canonical amino acid L‐tryptophan (Trp). A long‐term cultivation experiment in defined synthetic media resulted in the evolution of cells capable of surviving Trp→[3,2]Tpa substitutions in their proteomes in response to the 20 899 TGG codons of the E. coli W3110 genome. These evolved bacteria with new‐to‐nature amino acid composition showed robust growth in the complete absence of Trp. Our experimental results illustrate an approach for the evolution of synthetic cells with alternative biochemical building blocks.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1002/anie.201502868
Entities
People
- David Leach
- Dieter Söll
- Elise Darmon
- Hans‐rudolf Aerni
- Jesse Rinehart
- Juri Rappsilber
- Lauri Peil
- Michael Georg Hoesl
- Nediljko Budisa
- Patrick Durkin
- Stefan Oehm
Organizations
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- EU Business School
- German Research Foundation
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences