In vitro evolution of a synthetic organelle inside a picolitre habitat (A07)

植物和藻类的叶绿体通过蓝细菌的内共生结合而进化。关于支持内共生的分子机制的假设很少得到直接的实验检验。我们在这里提出了通过内共生质体起源的实验重述。一个中心目标是测试假设，即内共生体的目标是在空间限制下最大化代谢合作。我们将通过蓝藻的基因工程和在微流体装置中建立一个合成的细胞溶胶样环境来验证这一假设。

The chloroplasts of plants and algae evolved through endosymbiotic incorporation of a cyanobacterium. Few of hypotheses as to the molecular mechanisms underpinning endosymbiosis have been subject to direct experimental testing. We propose here the experimental recapitulation of the origin of plastids through endosymbiosis. A central aim is testing the hypothesis that the objective of the endosymbiont is maximising metabolic cooperativity under spatial constraints. We will test this hypothesis by genetic engineering of cyanobacteria and establishment of a synthetic cytosol-like environment in microfluidics devices.