A prototype cell partly capable of replicating itself has been created using 36 existing bacterial genes, but it's not really a living organism – yet

The Wenk Lab at the University of Groningen engineers synthetic metabolic pathways in microbial hosts to create cell factories for a sustainable bioeconomy.

Rhodobacter sphaeroides is a purple nonsulfur alphaproteobacterium with a highly versatile metabolism. This microorganism holds promise as a chassis for sustainable biomanufacturing of numerous chemicals. Yet, its potential is constrained by a lack of standardized, well-characterized genetic elements to tune gene expression such as transcriptional promoters and ribosome binding sites (RBSs). In this study, we present Rhodo-Box, a comprehensive toolkit for R. sphaeroides created by adapting and extending the Zymo-Parts modular cloning framework. Using Rhodo-Box we built and characterized: (a) three broad-host origins of replication (pBBR1, RK2 and RSF1010), (b) a set of 13 promoters, (c) four inducible expression systems (NahR-PsalTTC, LacI-PlacT7A1_O3O4, VanR-PvanCC, and XylS-Pm), (d) 11 RBSs, and (e) four transcriptional terminators. Furthermore, we present a semiautomated, user-friendly cloning approach which enables rapid construction of R. sphaeroides strains. The Rhodo-Box toolkit equips R. sphaeroides with a standardized, automation-compatible collection of parts and workflows essential for efficient design–build–test–learn cycles and advanced metabolic engineering.

Taking a radical new approach to the publication process resulted in eLife losing its impact factor, but authors, reviewers, editors and funders support the journal and its efforts to reform scientifi...

Heute ernannte Rektorin Prof. Dr. Anja Steinbeck den Biotechnologen Dr. Johannes Rebelein zum W3-Professor für Nachhaltige Biotechnologie. Rebelein wird damit auch Direktor des Instituts für Molekular...

Are you just as excited as we are about the fascinating world of microorganisms? Do you want to contribute to exploring and genomically characterize novel prokaryotic lineages? Do you have a PhD degre...

European Research Council president describes scheme as part attempt to lure US talent

Screening of 1,076 compounds reveals 168 chemical pollutants with inhibitory effects on gut bacteria and genetic screens indicate commonality between pollutant and antibiotic resistance.

Biological carbon fixation is currently limited to seven naturally occurring pathways. Synthetic carbon fixation pathways have the potential to surpass aerobic natural pathways in efficiency, but none...

Dihydrodichlorofluorescein derivatives have been employed as reporters of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in innumerable studies. Their...

Although metagenomic sequencing has revealed a rich microbial biodiversity in the mammalian gut, methods to genetically alter specific species in the microbiome are highly limited. Here, we introduce ...