Engineering multi-strain population control systems in bacterial consortia

传统上，合成生物学依靠单一培养、单一菌株微生物种群来进行生产过程的所有阶段。该途径的每个阶段都由不同的基因产物执行。每个基因的表达都会给细胞带来代谢负荷。此外，基因之间的串扰可能会导致意外的行为。这两个功能限制了我们在单一文化中运行时可以构建的系统的复杂性。通过在几个生物体中分离不同的途径组件，我们减少了每个个体的新陈代谢负担，并减少了基因之间的串扰。这将允许构建更复杂、可能更有效的系统。群落也可能表现出对环境条件的突如其来的健壮。能够在变化的条件下保持正常的功能增加了生物过程的灵活性，具有更具成本效益的工作条件的潜力。为了建立一个微生物联盟，我们需要联盟成员之间的工程师沟通和反馈机制。我们的工作将建立在Balagadde et开发的合成捕食者-猎物系统的基础上。AL 2008，使用了与CCDA/CCDB毒素-抗毒素系统相结合的法定感应组件。我们计划将这一平台扩展到构建涉及多个捕食者和被捕食者物种的系统。

Traditionally, synthetic biology has relied upon monocultures, single strain microbe populations to conduct all stages of a production process. Each stage of the pathway is executed by a different gene product. The expression of each gene exerts a metabolic load on the cell. Additionally, cross-talk between genes can cause unanticipated behaviour. Both these features limit the complexity of systems we can build when operating in a monoculture. By splitting distinct components of a pathway across several organisms, we reduce metabolic burden on each individual, and reduce cross-talk between genes. This would allow for the construction of more complex, and potentially more efficient systems. Communities may also exhibit emergent robustness to environmental conditions. Being able to maintain normal functionality in changing conditions adds flexibility to the of a bioprocess, with the potential for more cost-effective working conditions.In order to establish a microbial consortium, we need engineer communication and feedback mechanisms between the consortium members. Our work will build upon a synthetic predator-prey system developed by Balagadde et. al 2008 that uses a quorum sensing components coupled with the ccdA/ccdB toxin-antitoxin system. We plan to extend this platform to construct systems involving multiple predator and prey species.