Abstract
A major goal of synthetic biology is to reprogram cells to perform complex tasks. Here we show how a combination of in vitro and in vivo selection rapidly identifies a synthetic riboswitch that activates protein translation in response to the herbicide atrazine. We further demonstrate that this riboswitch can reprogram bacteria to migrate in the presence of atrazine. Finally, we show that incorporating a gene from an atrazine catabolic pathway allows these cells to seek and destroy atrazine.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (GM074070 to J.P.G.), the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation and the Herman Frasch Foundation of the American Chemical Society. J.P.G. is a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. We thank S. Topp for helpful discussions.
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J.P.G. conceived the research. J.S. performed the molecular and microbiology experiments; S.J.R. carried out the synthetic chemistry. J.S. and J.P.G. analyzed data and wrote the paper.
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Sinha, J., Reyes, S. & Gallivan, J. Reprogramming bacteria to seek and destroy an herbicide. Nat Chem Biol 6, 464–470 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.369
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.369
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