Design of modular "plug-and-play" expression platforms derived from natural riboswitches for engineering novel genetically encodable RNA regulatory devices.

Genetically encodable RNA devices that directly detect small molecules in the cellular environment are of increasing interest for a variety of applications including live cell imaging and synthetic biology. Riboswitches are naturally occurring sensors of intracellular metabolites, primarily found in the bacterial mRNA leaders and regulating their expression. These regulatory elements are generally composed of two domains: an aptamer that binds a specific effector molecule and an expression platform that informs the transcriptional or translational machinery. While it was long established that riboswitch aptamers are modular and portable, capable of directing different output domains including ribozymes, switches, and fluorophore-binding modules, the same has not been demonstrated until recently for expression platforms. We have engineered and validated a set of expression platforms that regulate transcription through a secondary structural switch that can host a variety of different aptamers, including those derived through in vitro selection methods, to create novel chimeric riboswitches. These synthetic switches are capable of a highly specific regulatory response both in vitro and in vivo. Here we present the methodology for the design and engineering of chimeric switches using biological expression platforms.