Light-powered Escherichia coli cell division for chemical production

Abstract

Cell division can perturb the metabolic performance of industrial microbes. The C period of cell division starts from the initiation to the termination of DNA replication, whereas the D period is the bacterial division process. Here, we first shorten the C and D periods of E. coli by controlling the expression of the ribonucleotide reductase NrdAB and division proteins FtsZA through blue light and near-infrared light activation, respectively. It increases the specific surface area to 3.7 μm−1 and acetoin titer to 67.2 g·L−1. Next, we prolong the C and D periods of E. coli by regulating the expression of the ribonucleotide reductase NrdA and division protein inhibitor SulA through blue light activation-repression and near-infrared (NIR) light activation, respectively. It improves the cell volume to 52.6 μm3 and poly(lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) titer to 14.31 g·L−1. Thus, the optogenetic-based cell division regulation strategy can improve the efficiency of microbial cell factories.

Reversible thermal regulation for bifunctional dynamic control of gene expression in Escherichia coli

“…Notably, scalable and robust gene circuits for uni-and bidirectional control of target genes over various timings and levels triggered by specific signals are desirable for diverse applications [3][4][5] . Generally, a dynamic control system of customized functions can be achieved by leveraging a variety of signal-sensing modules, including chemicals 6,7 , intermediate metabolites [8][9][10] , temperature [11][12][13] , light [14][15][16] , and cell population 17 responsive biosensors. In previous studies, many successful systems have been constructed for different purposes, such as enhanced production of various metabolic products including fuels 18 , drugs 19 , or other valuable chemicals 20 by microbes engineered using bidirectional dynamic control strategy.…”

Enhancing single-cell hyaluronic acid biosynthesis by microbial morphology engineering

“…In E. coli , B. subtilis , Mycobacterium tuberculosis and C. glutamicum , inhibition of FtsZ made the cells into long strips; while overexpression of FtsZ let the cells become dumbbell-shapes [ 21 , [28] , [29] , [30] ]. In addition to cytoskeleton related genes, we can also control each period of cell division by regulating cell cycle related genes, so as to obtain cells with different sizes and different specific surface areas as well [ 31 , 32 ].…”

Nanomaterial Shape Influence on Cell Behavior

“…In contrast to treatment, the use of nanoparticles in microbial engineering is less widespread in the literature. Examples include protective nanoshells to overcome conditions in harsh environments [ 144 , 145 ], the integration of synthetic solar-to-chemical energy transformation pathways in non-photosynthetic organisms [ 146 , 147 ], and magnetic and light control of metabolic reactions [ 14 , 148 ]. The synergy of synthetic biology and materials science creates a unique possibility for the novel generation of microbes-based factories with remote control and the on-demand production of valuable products.…”

“…Ag NPs have received considerable attention due to their wide use as antimicrobial agents, which were shown to be very effective [ 149 ]. The toxicity of silver nanoparticles is usually associated with ROS generation, membrane damage, and ion release, which induce the dysregulation of DNA synthesis [ 148 ]. The pioneering work on the shape-dependent toxicity of silver nanoparticles was carried out by Pal et al [ 150 ].…”