Engineering minimal cell walls for the emergence of shape in protocells (P14)

我们的目标是重建原始细胞壁的出现，使原始细胞具有非球形的形状，根据化石记录，这在生命进化的早期就发生了。具体来说，我们将观察反应扩散的极性诱导和原始分裂机制的组装等基本过程如何受益于原细胞从球形到非球形的转变，以及有壁的原细胞是否对环境压力表现出更强的稳健性。由于细菌和古细菌细胞壁所需的生物机制过于复杂，无法在最小的系统中重建，我们将使用DNA折纸通过交联或硅化硬化来构建一个简单的囊泡膜外壳。

We aim to reconstitute the emergence of a primitive cell wall for protocells to assume non-spherical shapes, which according to fossil records have occurred very early in the evolution of life. Specifically, we will observe how fundamental processes like polarity induction by reaction-diffusion, and the assembly of a primitive division machinery, will benefit from the transition from spherical to non-spherical shapes of protocells, and whether the walled protocells show greater robustness against environmental stresses. As the biological machineries required for bacterial and archaeal cell walls are too complex to be reconstituted in minimal systems, we will use DNA origami stiffened by cross-linking or silicification to construct a simplistic shell on vesicle membranes.