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

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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.