Institute of Bio- and Geosciences - IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52425, Germany.
Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSC), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich 52425, Germany.
ACS Synth Biol. 2021 Mar 19;10(3):589-599. doi: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00599. Epub 2021 Feb 16.
Molecular cloning is the core of synthetic biology, as it comprises the assembly of DNA and its expression in target hosts. At present, however, cloning is most often a manual, time-consuming, and repetitive process that highly benefits from automation. The automation of a complete rational cloning procedure, , from DNA creation to expression in the target host, involves the integration of different operations and machines. Examples of such workflows are sparse, especially when the design is rational (, the DNA sequence design is fixed and not based on randomized libraries) and the target host is less genetically tractable (, not sensitive to heat-shock transformation). In this study, an automated workflow for the rational construction of plasmids and their subsequent conjugative transfer into the biotechnological platform organism is presented. The whole workflow is accompanied by a custom-made software tool. As an application example, a rationally designed library of transcription factor-biosensors based on the regulator Lrp was constructed and characterized. A sensor with an improved dynamic range was obtained, and insights from the screening provided evidence for a dual regulator function of Lrp.
分子克隆是合成生物学的核心,因为它包括 DNA 的组装及其在靶宿主中的表达。然而,目前克隆通常是一个手动、耗时和重复的过程,非常受益于自动化。从 DNA 构建到目标宿主中的表达,完整的理性克隆程序的自动化涉及到不同操作和机器的整合。这样的工作流程的例子很少,特别是当设计是理性的(即 DNA 序列设计是固定的,而不是基于随机文库)并且目标宿主的遗传可操作性较差(即,对热休克转化不敏感)时。在这项研究中,提出了一种用于理性构建质粒及其随后共轭转移到生物技术平台生物中的自动化工作流程。整个工作流程都有一个定制的软件工具。作为一个应用实例,构建并表征了基于调节因子 Lrp 的转录因子生物传感器的理性设计文库。获得了具有改进动态范围的传感器,并且筛选结果为 Lrp 的双重调节功能提供了证据。