With the use of synthetic biology, we reduced the Escherichia coli K-12 genome by making planned, precise deletions. The multiple-deletion series (MDS) strains, with genome reductions up to 15%, were designed by identifying nonessential genes and sequences for elimination, including recombinogenic or mobile DNA and cryptic virulence genes, while preserving good growth profiles and protein production. Genome reduction also led to unanticipated beneficial properties: high electroporation efficiency and accurate propagation of recombinant genes and plasmids that were unstable in other strains. Eradication of stress-induced transposition evidently stabilized the MDS genomes and provided some of the new properties.

Currently available tools for multiplex bacterial genome engineering are optimized for a few laboratory model strains, demand extensive prior modification of the host strain, and lead to the accumulation of numerous off-target modifications. Building on prior development of multiplex automated genome engineering (MAGE), our work addresses these problems in a single framework. Using a dominant-negative mutant protein of the methyl-directed mismatch repair (MMR) system, we achieved a transient suppression of DNA repair in Escherichia coli, which is necessary for efficient oligonucleotide integration. By integrating all necessary components into a broad-host vector, we developed a new workflow we term pORTMAGE. It allows efficient modification of multiple loci, without any observable off-target mutagenesis and prior modification of the host genome. Because of the conserved nature of the bacterial MMR system, pORTMAGE simultaneously allows genome editing and mutant library generation in other biotechnologically and clinically relevant bacterial species. Finally, we applied pORTMAGE to study a set of antibiotic resistance-conferring mutations in Salmonella enterica and E. coli. Despite over 100 million y of divergence between the two species, mutational effects remained generally conserved. In sum, a single transformation of a pORTMAGE plasmid allows bacterial species of interest to become an efficient host for genome engineering. These advances pave the way toward biotechnological and therapeutic applications. Finally, pORTMAGE allows systematic comparison of mutational effects and epistasis across a wide range of bacterial species.genome engineering | synthetic biology | recombineering | off-target effects | methyl-directed mismatch repair

BackgroundEvolvability is an intrinsic feature of all living cells. However, newly emerging, evolved features can be undesirable when genetic circuits, designed and fabricated by rational, synthetic biological approaches, are installed in the cell. Streamlined-genome E. coli MDS42 is free of mutation-generating IS elements, and can serve as a host with reduced evolutionary potential.ResultsWe analyze an extreme case of toxic plasmid clone instability, and show that random host IS element hopping, causing inactivation of the toxic cloned sequences, followed by automatic selection of the fast-growing mutants, can prevent the maintenance of a clone developed for vaccine production. Analyzing the molecular details, we identify a hydrophobic protein as the toxic byproduct of the clone, and show that IS elements spontaneously landing in the cloned fragment relieve the cell from the stress by blocking transcription of the toxic gene. Bioinformatics analysis of sequence reads from early shotgun genome sequencing projects, where clone libraries were constructed and maintained in E. coli, suggests that such IS-mediated inactivation of ectopic genes inhibiting the growth of the E. coli cloning host might happen more frequently than generally anticipated, leading to genomic instability and selection of altered clones.ConclusionsDelayed genetic adaptation of clean-genome, IS-free MDS42 host improves maintenance of unstable genetic constructs, and is suggested to be beneficial in both laboratory and industrial settings.

Why are certain bacterial genomes so small and compact? The adaptive genome streamlining hypothesis posits that selection acts to reduce genome size because of the metabolic burden of replicating DNA. To reveal the impact of genome streamlining on cellular traits, we reduced the Escherichia coli genome by up to 20% by deleting regions which have been repeatedly subjects of horizontal transfer in nature. Unexpectedly, horizontally transferred genes not only confer utilization of specific nutrients and elevate tolerance to stresses, but also allow efficient usage of resources to build new cells, and hence influence fitness in routine and stressful environments alike. Genome reduction affected fitness not only by gene loss, but also by induction of a general stress response. Finally, we failed to find evidence that the advantage of smaller genomes would be due to a reduced metabolic burden of replicating DNA or a link with smaller cell size. We conclude that as the potential energetic benefit gained by deletion of short genomic segments is vanishingly small compared with the deleterious side effects of these deletions, selection for reduced DNA synthesis costs is unlikely to shape the evolution of small genomes.

The ideal bacterial chassis provides a simplified, stable and predictable host environment for synthetic biological circuits. Mutability and evolution can, however, compromise stability, leading to deterioration of artificial genetic constructs. By eliminating certain sources of instability, these undesired genetic changes can be mitigated. Specifically, deletion of prophages and insertion sequences, nonessential constituents of bacterial genomes, has been shown to be beneficial in cellular and genetic stabilization. Here, we sought to establish a rapid methodology to improve the stability of microbial hosts. The novel workflow involves genome shuffling between a mobile genetic element-free strain and the target cell, and subsequent rounds of CRISPR/Cas-assisted MAGE on multiplex targets. The power and speed of the procedure was demonstrated on E. coli BL21(DE3), a host routinely used for plasmid-based heterologous protein expression. All 9 prophages and 50 insertion elements were efficiently deleted or inactivated. Together with additional targeted manipulations (e.g., inactivation of error-prone DNA-polymerases), the changes resulted in an improved bacterial host with a hybrid (harboring segments of K-12 DNA), 9%-downsized and clean genome. The combined capacity of phage-mediated generalized transduction and CRISPR/Cas-selected MAGE offers a way for rapid, large scale editing of bacterial genomes.

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E. coli K-12, being one of the best understood and thoroughly analyzed organisms, is the workhorse of genetic, biochemical, and systems biology research, as well as the platform of choice for numerous biotechnological applications. Genome minimization/remodeling is now a feasible approach to further enhance its beneficial characteristics for practical applications. Two genome engineering techniques, a lambda Red-mediated deletion method and a suicide (conditionally replicative) plasmid-based allele replacement procedure are presented here. These techniques utilize homologous recombination, and allow the rapid introduction of virtually any modifications in the genome.