Expanding the Functionality of an Autoinduction Device for Repression of Gene Expression in Bacillus subtilis

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 24; no. 1; p. 84
• Main Authors: Silva, Bruna F, Corrêa, Graciely G, Zocca, Vitória F B, Picheli, Flavio P, Lins, Milca R C R, Pedrolli, Danielle B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 21-12-2022; MDPI AG
• Subjects: autoinduction; autonomous control; Bacillus subtilis; Brief Report; dynamic regulation; quorum-sensing; riboflavin; dynamic regulation; autoinduction; autonomous control; quorum-sensing; Bacillus subtilis; riboflavin
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms24010084

Autonomous control of gene expression through engineered quorum-sensing processes is broadly applicable to biosynthetic pathways, including simultaneous control of different genes. It is also a powerful tool for balancing growth and production. We had previously engineered a modular autoinduction device for the control of gene expression in
. Now, we expand its functionality to repress gene expression autonomously. The engineered R8 promoter responds to AHL accumulation in the culture medium. In a riboflavin-producing strain, the AHL-Lux complex exerts 5-fold repression on the R8-driven expression of the flavokinase/FAD synthetase gene
, resulting in a higher titer of the vitamin. We engineered a strain able to autonomously induce and repress different genes simultaneously, demonstrating the potential of the device for use in metabolic engineering.