Overview
To solve the genetic instability of a microorganism, we design an elaborate cheater-proof system containing engineered workers and guards. When genes of the targeted protein mutate, workers in this system can secrete signal molecules to activate the guards and be specifically killed by them.
Users and beneficiaries
This platform has the potential to solve the problems of cheaters in population growth, industrial production, agricultural and medicine production, the preservation of strains, food safety, population growth research and the regulation of intestinal microbiomes
Industrial, agricultural and medicine production
Factory fermentation production mainly through microbial metabolism, even if the strain in the early layer screening to reduce the possibility of mutation. But in the case of adequate nutrition in the environment, some individuals may still become "cheater". In agricultural fertilizer production, bacteria treat fertilizers into small molecular substances that can be absorbed by plants through metabolic action. However, cheater can affect this conversion rate. So we can tell that killing cheater can improve fertilizer utilization rate. In the process of drug production, the strains imported into our pathways can simplify purification processes, reduce costs and maximize yields.
Food safety
Mutated strains in the flora may produce unexpected substances, some of which may taste poor, and even do harm the health. Killing cheaters with our system ensures productivity and food safety to a certain extent.
Experimental research
This platform can be employed in population evolution simulation. One study has found that there are different mutant strains in the flora, such as cheater, guard, and so on but their proportion, interaction and at which stage they appear remain unknown, our platform may help us get more insights into these problems and beyond. And it can also be a great way to maintain strains used and preserved in laboratories.
Regulation of gut microorganisms
Gut microbes play a significant role in human health. If the balance of intestinal microbes is impaired, the nervous system may be affected, causing neurodegenerative diseases, other related diseases. In addition, the regulation of the gut microbiomes may be helpful for cancer treatment. Our system provides the feasibility for the self-regulation of the gut microbiomes, and even practical support for obtaining concentration thresholds for different floras.
Use-pattern
We made a kit and wrote a complete protocol, which includes information about usage steps, conditions of usage and more. The user imports the pathways into the workers and guards following the protocol, and then puts the workers and guards into the target flora according to the specified time and dosage.At the same time, we immobilized engineering bacteria and wrapped them in gel beads to facilitate input and separation.
Advantages
1.Universal usage Our system can reduce the cost of pharmaceutical and food industries, improve fertilizer utilization and may support relative theoretical research in laboratories.
2.User-friendly We offer a kit with detailed protocols that is easy to use and provide users with alternative system on users’ demand. Moreover, the number of guards to be added can base upon users’ needs during the colony’s growth, and we immobilized engineered bacteria and wrapped them in gel beads to facilitate rapid addition and separation as well.
3.Easy visualization. The working efficiency of our platform can be reflected by the fluorescence intensity of mCherry and the intensity of our system can be easily visualized.
Risks and countermeasures
Accidental bacterial leakage can result in environmental pollution. But when operating the strain in factories and laboratories the personnel supposed to follow related regulation and the leakage risk is relatively low. Despite this, we introduce the blue ray suicide system to the strain for any possible risk.
