CAREER: Catalytic Living Materials Constructed with Engineered Spores and Polymer Scaffolds

非技术摘要细菌孢子就像种子。它们耐寒，保存良好，在条件合适的情况下可以成长为活的有机体，即使这需要等待很多年。就像向日葵种子长成能结出多粒种子的向日葵一样，细菌孢子可以长成数十亿个细胞，然后再变成数十亿个孢子。科学家现在可以设计细菌孢子，用一种名为酶的生物机械来装饰它们的表面。酶是一种蛋白质，因为它们能够加速有用的化学反应，所以对所有生命来说都是必不可少的。将这些功能化的孢子与工程聚合物相结合，可以生产出执行催化反应的新材料。该项目通过设计合成聚合物和细菌孢子来研究制造此类材料的配方，特别强调制造可从环境中降解有毒化合物的材料。这项研究的结果将为创造各种材料奠定基础，这些材料可以促进广泛的化学反应。它还将在合成材料和细菌孢子之间建立工程接口方面提供新的基础知识。除了研究活动，还将为加州大学欧文分校的社区大学生、K12学生和聚合物化学专业的学生开发教育和推广项目。技术概述该项目旨在利用工程聚合物支架和枯草杆菌孢子之间的动态共价键形成来开发坚固的、智能的催化活性材料。特别是，该团队将专注于创造用于催化生物修复的生物材料。由于细菌孢子可以在严酷的条件下存活，如脱水、营养限制、有机溶剂和氧化应激，因此可以生产含孢子的复合材料，并以干燥的形式储存。在设计细菌孢子和构成活材料的聚合物材料后，它们有望对广泛的底物执行强大的催化作用，在干燥储存下长期稳定，并且在使用后可回收。具体地说，将追求以下四个研究目标：(1)评估在枯草杆菌孢子上建立明确的分子界面的各种基序；(2)工程枯草杆菌孢子用于催化生物修复；(3)合成并研究含孢子的活体材料的物理性质。(4)生物材料催化行为的评价和工程设计。作为研究活动的补充，教育目标是(1)开发一个针对当地社区学院(CC)学生和CC转学学生的推广和研究计划，(2)参与针对当地K12学生的推广计划，以及(3)在UCI指导和教育学生并领导聚合物化学俱乐部活动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-technical summaryBacterial spores are like seeds. They are hardy, preserve well, and can grow into living organisms when the conditions are right, even if it requires waiting many years. Like a sunflower seed growing into a sunflower that produces multiple seeds, a bacterial spore can grow into billions of cells that later become billions of spores. Scientists can now engineer bacterial spores to decorate their surfaces with biological machinery called enzymes, a category of proteins that are essential to all life because of their ability to speed up useful chemical reactions. Combining these functionalized spores with engineered polymers enables the production of new materials performing catalytic reactions. This project investigates recipes for creating such materials by engineering both synthetic polymers and bacterial spores, with special emphasis on making materials degrading toxic compounds from the environment. The outcome of this research will establish a foundation for creating a diverse array of materials that can facilitate a wide range of chemical reactions. It will also provide new fundamental knowledge in building engineered interfaces between synthetic materials and bacterial spores. Along with the research activities, educational and outreach programs will be developed for community college students, K12 students, and polymer chemistry students at UC Irvine.Technical summaryThis project aims to develop robust, intelligent catalytic living materials utilizing dynamic covalent bond formation between engineered polymer scaffolds and B. subtilis spores. In particular, the team will focus on creating living materials for catalytic bioremediation. Because bacterial spores can survive harsh conditions, such as dehydration, nutrient limitation, organic solvents, and oxidative stress, spore-containing composite materials could be produced and stored in a dried form. Upon engineering both the bacterial spores and polymeric materials constituting living materials, they are expected to perform robust catalysis for a wide range of substrates, are stable under dry storage for a long period of time, and are recyclable after use. Specifically, the following four research objectives will be pursued: (1) evaluating various motifs for building a well-defined molecular interface on B. subtilis spores, (2) engineering B. subtilis spores for catalytic bioremediation, (3) synthesizing and studying physical properties of spore-containing living materials. (4) evaluating and engineering catalytic behaviors of living materials. The educational objectives to complement the research activities are (1) the development of an outreach and research program targeting local community college (CC) students and CC transfer students, (2) participation in the outreach program targeting local K12 students, and (3) mentoring and educating students at UCI and leading the polymer chemistry club activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.