Plasmid‐encoded protein attenuates Escherichiacoli swimming velocity and cell growth, not reprogrammed regulatory functions
Abstract
In addition to engineering new pathways for synthesis, synthetic biologists rewire cells to carry out “programmable” functions, an example being the creation of wound‐healing probiotics. Engineering regulatory circuits and synthetic machinery, however, can be deleterious to cell function, particularly if the “metabolic burden” is significant. Here, a synthetic regulatory circuit previously constructed to direct Escherichia coli to swim toward hydrogen peroxide, a signal of wound generation, was shown to work even with coexpression of antibiotic resistance genes and genes associated with lactose utilization. We found, however, that cotransformation with a second vector constitutively expressing GFP (as a marker) and additionally conferring resistance to kanamycin and tetracycline resulted in slower velocity (Δ~6 μm/s) and dramatically reduced growth rate (Δ > 50%). The additional vector did not, however, alter the run‐and‐tumble ratio or directional characteristics of H2O2–dependent motility. The main impact of this additional burden was limited to slowing cell velocity and growth, suggesting that reprogrammed cell motility by minimally altering native regulatory circuits can be maintained even when extraneous burden is placed on the host cell. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 35: e2778, 2019.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 15, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1002/btpr.2778
Entities
People
- Chelsea Virgile
- Hsuan‐chen Wu
- Pricila Hauk
- William E. Bentley
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems
- Division of Electrical, Communications & Cyber Systems
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
- National Institutes of Health
- University of Maryland