Tools and technologies for engineering self-regulated nitrogen fixation in plant-associated bacteria

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One major challenge in synthetic biology is that programming bacteria to perform extra tasks can put a significant burden on them, typically leading to decreased cell fitness and performance. This is especially relevant for applications in highly complex environments (e.g. the plant rhizosphere), where engineered bacteria are likely to be at a severe competitive disadvantage.In this project we will apply a combined synthetic biology and control engineering approach to tackle the competitive disadvantage of recombinant nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil-plant environment, with the ultimate goal of developing more robust nitrogen-fixing inoculants for sustainable agriculture.