UNS: Engineering Stable Two- and Three-Component Bacterial Consortia

小行星1511646 天然存在的微生物聚生体是一起工作以执行复杂任务的微生物群落。 该项目旨在使用一系列具有良好特征的遗传相互作用来产生稳定的、可调节的微生物聚生体。这一想法的应用将在生物可再生材料生产的两个方面得到证明。在第一个示范中，将研究同时利用混合糖的问题。木质纤维素生物质含有多种糖类型，将这些糖转化为生物可再生燃料和化学品将最佳地利用所有这些糖。 将建立一个能够利用三种最常见的生物质衍生糖的微生物联合体。第二个示范涉及一个财团，其中所有成员消耗相同的糖（葡萄糖），但产生两种不同的产品。 这项工作将开发新技术，使生物可再生燃料和化学品的生产得到改善。该项目将为本科生和研究生研究人员提供培训，并为K12外联活动提供基础。本提案的目标是重新设计现有的产生聚生体的大肠杆菌基因电路，以形成用于利用混合底物和生产混合产物的微生物聚生体。该聚生体与现有聚生体的不同之处在于它将是（i）等基因的和（ii）自调整的。虽然聚生体以离散的表达状态存在，但成员在遗传上都是相同的，并且不需要营养缺陷型特征的工程化来维持稳定的群体。 自调节行为将确保群体分布将响应于外部或代谢信号而改变。这种同基因群体获得这种离散和自我调节行为的能力是基于一组复杂的相互作用，这些相互作用在发病机制的背景下在DNA复制后不久在pap和fim操纵子中发生。这项工作涉及生物分子过程的基础工程研究，可能导致生物技术和生物能源行业的使能技术的发展。具体而言，将展示生物质衍生糖的利用和生物可再生化学品的生产。这项工作的具体目标包括（i）构建报告系统和表征在各种生长条件下的等基因的、自调节的聚生体;（ii）工程化用于葡萄糖、木糖和阿拉伯糖的同时、自调节消耗的系统;（iii）用于联产琥珀酸甲酯和1的系统的工程化，4-丁二醇（BDO）。该奖项由CBET分部的生物技术和生物化学工程计划共同资助，由分子和细胞生物学分部的系统和合成生物学计划共同资助。

1511646 Jarboe, Laura Naturally-occurring microbial consortia are communities of microorganisms that work together to perform complex tasks. This project aims to use a well-characterized series of genetic interactions to generate stable, tunable microbial consortia. The application of this idea will be demonstrated in two aspects of the production of biorenewables. In the first demonstration, the problem of simultaneous utilization of mixed sugars will be developed. Lignocellulosic biomass contains a variety of sugar types and conversion of these sugars to biorenewable fuels and chemicals would optimally utilize all of these sugars. A microbial consortium capable of utilizing the three most common biomass-derived sugars will be established. The second demonstration involves a consortium in which all members consume the same sugar (glucose), but produce two distinct products. This work will develop new technology that will enable improved production of biorenewable fuels and chemicals. This project will provide training for undergraduate and graduate researchers and provide a basis for K12 outreach activities. The goal of this proposal is to redesign an existing consortium-generating Escherichia coli genetic circuit to form microbial consortia for utilization of mixed substrates and production of mixed products. This consortium will be distinct from existing consortia in that it will be (i) isogenic and (ii) self-tuning. While the consortium exists in discrete expression states, the members are all genetically identical and will not require the engineering of auxotrophic features in order to maintain a stable population. The self-tuning behavior will ensure that the population distribution will shift in response to external or metabolic signals. The ability of this isogenic population to attain such discrete and self-tuning behavior is based on a complex set of interactions that occur shortly after DNA replication in the pap and fim operons in the context of pathogenesis. This work involves fundamental engineering research of biomolecular processes that could lead to the development of enabling technology for biotechnology and bioenergy industries. Specifically, the utilization of biomass-derived sugars and the production of biorenewable chemicals will be demonstrated. The specific aims of this work include (i) the construction of reporter systems and characterization of the isogenic, self-tuning consortium in a variety of growth conditions; (ii) the engineering of the system for simultaneous, self-tuning consumption of glucose, xylose and arabinose; (iii) the engineering of the system for co-production of methylsuccinate and 1,4-butanediol (BDO).This award by the Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering Program of the CBET Division is co-funded by the Systems and Synthetic Biology Program of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology.