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

非技术概述细菌孢子就像种子。它们哈代耐寒，保存良好，在条件合适的时候，即使需要等待多年，也能长成活的有机体。就像一粒向日葵种子长成一粒向日葵，产生多粒种子一样，细菌孢子可以长成数十亿个细胞，然后变成数十亿个孢子。科学家现在可以设计细菌孢子，用称为酶的生物机械来装饰它们的表面，酶是一种蛋白质，对所有生命都至关重要，因为它们能够加速有用的化学反应。将这些功能化的孢子与工程聚合物相结合，能够生产执行催化反应的新材料。该项目研究通过工程合成聚合物和细菌孢子来制造这种材料的配方，特别强调制造降解环境中有毒化合物的材料。这项研究的结果将为创造一系列可以促进广泛化学反应的材料奠定基础。它还将为在合成材料和细菌孢子之间建立工程界面提供新的基础知识。沿着研究活动，将为社区大学学生，K12学生和加州大学欧文分校高分子化学学生开发教育和推广计划。技术摘要本项目旨在开发强大的，智能的催化活性材料，利用工程聚合物支架和B之间的动态共价键形成。枯草芽孢特别是，该团队将专注于为催化生物修复创造生物材料。由于细菌孢子可以在诸如脱水、营养限制、有机溶剂和氧化应激等恶劣条件下存活，因此可以生产含孢子的复合材料并以干燥形式储存。在工程化细菌孢子和构成活材料的聚合物材料后，预期它们对广泛的底物进行稳健的催化，在干燥储存下长时间稳定，并且在使用后可回收。具体而言，将追求以下四个研究目标：（1）评估各种基序以在B上构建明确的分子界面。枯草芽孢杆菌;（2）工程菌B.枯草芽孢杆菌芽孢用于催化生物修复;（3）含芽孢生物材料的合成与物理性质研究。(4)评估和设计生物材料的催化行为。补充研究活动的教育目标是：（1）制定针对当地社区学院（CC）学生和CC转学生的外展和研究计划，（2）参与针对当地K12学生的外展计划，以及（3）指导和教育UCI的学生，并领导高分子化学俱乐部的活动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被视为通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，

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.