Engineering Complexity in Bacterial Regulatory Circuits for Biotechnological Applications

Author(s)

Westmann, Caua Antunes ; Guazzaroni, Mara-Eugenia ; Silva-Rocha, Rafael

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: MSYSTEMS; v. 3, n. 2, p. 4-pg., 2018-03-01.

Abstract

Engineering microbial systems allows the generation of new technologies having significant impact in the biotechnological industry and on human health. In the past few years, several synthetic biology approaches have been implemented in bacteria to allow precise engineering of novel regulatory circuits for several applications. The advent of high-throughput technologies and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9-based DNA editing techniques have been pivotal in this process. Yet, despite the tremendous advances experienced recently, there are still a number of bottlenecks that need to be overcome in order to generate high-performance redesigned living machines, and the use of novel computer-aided approaches would be essential for this task. In this perspective, we discuss some of the main advances in the field of microbial engineering and the new technologies and approaches that should allow the construction of on demand synthetic microbial factories through the redesign of regulatory complexity. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/05472-6 - Synthetic biology approaches to engineer/mine novel regulatory elements in bacteria
• Grantee: Cauã Antunes Westmann
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 12/22921-8 - Synthetic biology approaches for deciphering the logic of signal integration in complex bacterial promoters
• Grantee: Rafael Silva Rocha
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• FAPESP's process: 15/04309-1 - Novel approaches to improve functional screening of biocatalysts in metagenomic libraries
• Grantee: María Eugenia Guazzaroni
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants