Pabst, V. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2021

Species and strain cultivation of skin, oral, and gut microbiota

Genomics-driven discovery of microbial species have provided extraordinary insights into the biodiversity of human microbiota. High resolution genomics to investigate species- and strain-level diversity and mechanistic studies, however, rely on the availability of individual microbes from a complex microbial consortia. Here, we describe and validate a streamlined workflow for cultivating microbes from the skin, oral, and gut microbiota, informed by metagenomic sequencing, mass spectrometry, and strain profiling.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

TEARS: Spatial engineering of E. coli with addressable phase-separated RNAs

Biochemical processes often require spatial regulation and specific microenvironments. The general lack of organelles in bacteria limits the potential of bioengineering complex intracellular reactions. Here we demonstrate Transcriptionally Engineered Addressable RNA Solvent droplets (TEARS) as synthetic microdomains within the Escherichia coli. TEARS are assembled from RNA-binding protein recruitment domains fused to poly-CAG repeats that spontaneously drive liquid-liquid phase separation from the bulk cytoplasm. Targeting TEARS with fluorescent proteins revealed multilayered structures and a non-equilibrium mechanism controlling their composition and reaction robustness. We show that TEARS provide organelle-like bioprocess isolation for sequestering biochemical pathways, controlling metabolic branch points, buffering mRNA translation rates and scaffolding protein-protein interactions. TEARS are a simple and versatile tool for spatially controlling E. coli biochemistry.

synthetic biology↗