Mesoplasma florum comme modèle pour la biologie intégrative et l'ingéiere cellulaire

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Remarkable progress has recently been made in sequencing and synthesizing DNA molecules. Small microbial genomes are expected to be designed, constructed, and evaluated relatively easily in the very near future. Designing microbial cells for specific applications could have a very profound scientific and economic impact, as well as numerous benefits for the public. To achieve its full potential, the process will require an in-depth understanding of bacterial cell circuitry, as well as robust techniques for chromosome manipulation and cell programming using standardized DNA regulatory motifs. Safety features to reduce the risks of accidental gene transfer to, and from other organisms are also highly desirable. We propose to develop a safe, simple, well-understood free-living cell as a platform system for cell engineering efforts. We will focus our efforts on Mesoplasma florum, one of the simplest fast-growing, non-pathogenic, free-living organisms in order to reduce biological complexity to a minimum. We intend to further simplify these organisms in order to only keep functions required or desirable under laboratory conditions. The proposed experiments will help define the composition of a minimal genome, develop appropriate techniques to clone and modify entire M. florum genomes, and provide standardized parts as well as regulatory motifs assembly rules for programming engineered cells. While the main goal of the proposed studies is to advance basic knowledge, engineered M. florum cells could constitute a safe, simple and powerful platform for synthetic biology applications in medicine, environmental remediation, nano-fabrication, pathogen and hazardous material remote sensing, and energy production.