862 research outputs found

    Adaptive laboratory evolution of a genome-reduced Escherichia coli.

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    Synthetic biology aims to design and construct bacterial genomes harboring the minimum number of genes required for self-replicable life. However, the genome-reduced bacteria often show impaired growth under laboratory conditions that cannot be understood based on the removed genes. The unexpected phenotypes highlight our limited understanding of bacterial genomes. Here, we deploy adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) to re-optimize growth performance of a genome-reduced strain. The basis for suboptimal growth is the imbalanced metabolism that is rewired during ALE. The metabolic rewiring is globally orchestrated by mutations in rpoD altering promoter binding of RNA polymerase. Lastly, the evolved strain has no translational buffering capacity, enabling effective translation of abundant mRNAs. Multi-omic analysis of the evolved strain reveals transcriptome- and translatome-wide remodeling that orchestrate metabolism and growth. These results reveal that failure of prediction may not be associated with understanding individual genes, but rather from insufficient understanding of the strain's systems biology

    Genome-scale reconstruction of the sigma factor network in Escherichia coli: topology and functional states

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    Background: At the beginning of the transcription process, the RNA polymerase (RNAP) core enzyme requires a sigma-factor to recognize the genomic location at which the process initiates. Although the crucial role of sigma-factors has long been appreciated and characterized for many individual promoters, we do not yet have a genome-scale assessment of their function. Results: Using multiple genome-scale measurements, we elucidated the network of s-factor and promoter interactions in Escherichia coli. The reconstructed network includes 4,724 sigma-factor-specific promoters corresponding to transcription units (TUs), representing an increase of more than 300% over what has been previously reported. The reconstructed network was used to investigate competition between alternative sigma-factors (the sigma(70) and sigma(38) regulons), confirming the competition model of sigma substitution and negative regulation by alternative s-factors. Comparison with sigma-factor binding in Klebsiella pneumoniae showed that transcriptional regulation of conserved genes in closely related species is unexpectedly divergent. Conclusions: The reconstructed network reveals the regulatory complexity of the promoter architecture in prokaryotic genomes, and opens a path to the direct determination of the systems biology of their transcriptional regulatory networks

    The dynamic transcriptional and translational landscape of the model antibiotic producer Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

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    Individual Streptomyces species have the genetic potential to produce a diverse array of natural products of commercial, medical and veterinary interest. However, these products are often not detectable under laboratory culture conditions. To harness their full biosynthetic potential, it is important to develop a detailed understanding of the regulatory networks that orchestrate their metabolism. Here we integrate nucleotide resolution genome-scale measurements of the transcriptome and translatome of Streptomyces coelicolor, the model antibiotic-producing actinomycete. Our systematic study determines 3,570 transcription start sites and identifies 230 small RNAs and a considerable proportion (∼21%) of leaderless mRNAs; this enables deduction of genome-wide promoter architecture. Ribosome profiling reveals that the translation efficiency of secondary metabolic genes is negatively correlated with transcription and that several key antibiotic regulatory genes are translationally induced at transition growth phase. These findings might facilitate the design of new approaches to antibiotic discovery and development

    The architecture of ArgR-DNA complexes at the genome-scale in<i> Escherichia coli</i>

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    DNA-binding motifs that are recognized by transcription factors (TFs) have been well studied; however, challenges remain in determining the in vivo architecture of TF-DNA complexes on a genome-scale. Here, we determined the in vivo architecture of Escherichia coli arginine repressor (ArgR)-DNA complexes using high-throughput sequencing of exonuclease-treated chromatin-immunoprecipitated DNA (ChIP-exo). The ChIP-exo has a unique peak-pair pattern indicating 5′ and 3′ ends of ArgR-binding region. We identified 62 ArgR-binding loci, which were classified into three groups, comprising single, double and triple peak-pairs. Each peak-pair has a unique 93 base pair (bp)-long (±2 bp) ArgR-binding sequence containing two ARG boxes (39 bp) and residual sequences. Moreover, the three ArgR-binding modes defined by the position of the two ARG boxes indicate that DNA bends centered between the pair of ARG boxes facilitate the non-specific contacts between ArgR subunits and the residual sequences. Additionally, our approach may also reveal other fundamental structural features of TF-DNA interactions that have implications for studying genome-scale transcriptional regulatory networks

    Synthetic biology on acetogenic bacteria for highly efficient conversion of c1 gases to biochemicals

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    © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Synthesis gas, which is mainly produced from fossil fuels or biomass gasification, consists of C1 gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane as well as hydrogen. Acetogenic bacteria (acetogens) have emerged as an alternative solution to recycle C1 gases by converting them into value-added biochemicals using the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Despite the advantage of utilizing acetogens as biocatalysts, it is difficult to develop industrial-scale bioprocesses because of their slow growth rates and low productivities. To solve these problems, conventional approaches to metabolic engineering have been applied; however, there are several limitations owing to the lack of required genetic bioparts for regulating their metabolic pathways. Recently, synthetic biology based on genetic parts, modules, and circuit design has been actively exploited to overcome the limitations in acetogen engineering. This review covers synthetic biology applications to design and build industrial platform acetogens
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