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Metabolic engineering seeks to reprogram microbial cells to efficiently and sustainably produce value-added compounds. Since chemical production can be at odds with the cell’s natural objectives, strategies have been developed to balance conflicting goals. For example, dynamic regulation modulates gene expression to favor biomass and metabolite accumulation at low cell densities before diverting key metabolic fluxes toward product formation. To trigger changes in gene expression in a pathway-independent manner without the need for exogenous inducers, researchers have coupled gene expression to quorum-sensing (QS) circuits, which regulate transcription based on cell density. While effective, studies thus far have been limited to one control point. More challenging pathways may require layered dynamic regulation strategies, motivating the development of a generalizable tool for regulating multiple sets of genes. We have developed a QS-based regulation tool that combines components of the lux and esa QS systems to simultaneously and dynamically up- and down-regulate expression of 2 sets of genes. Characterization of the circuit revealed that varying the expression level of 2 QS components leads to predictable changes in switching dynamics and that using components from 2 QS systems allows for independent tuning capability. We applied the regulation tool to successfully address challenges in both the naringenin and salicylic acid synthesis pathways. Through these case studies, we confirmed the benefit of having multiple control points, predictable tuning capabilities, and independently tunable regulation modules.
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Dynamic Control of Gene Expression with Riboregulated Switchable Feedback Promoters
One major challenge in synthetic biology is the deleterious impacts of cellular stress caused by expression of heterologous pathways, sensors, and circuits. Feedback control and dynamic regulation are broadly proposed strategies to mitigate this cellular stress by optimizing gene expression levels temporally and in response to biological cues. While a variety of approaches for feedback implementation exist, they are often complex and cannot be easily manipulated. Here, we report a strategy that uses RNA transcriptional regulators to integrate additional layers of control over the output of natural and engineered feedback responsive circuits. Called riboregulated switchable feedback promoters (rSFPs), these gene expression cassettes can be modularly activated using multiple mechanisms, from manual induction to autonomous quorum sensing, allowing control over the timing, magnitude, and autonomy of expression. We develop rSFPs in Escherichia coli to regulate multiple feedback networks and apply them to control the output of two metabolic pathways. We envision that rSFPs will become a valuable tool for flexible and dynamic control of gene expression in metabolic engineering, biological therapeutic production, and many other applications.
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- PAR ID:
- 10223047
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ACS Synthetic Biology
- ISSN:
- 2161-5063
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.1c00015
