Information storage across a microbial community using universal RNA barcoding

A synthetic catalytic RNA was used to write information in conserved 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences about gene transfer host range. By reading out native and modified rRNA using amplicon sequencing, we were able to simultaneously determine the composition of a microbial community, identify the members that participate in conjugation, and observe differences in information storage across amplicon sequence variants. This sensitive, autonomous, and reversible RNA-addressable memory (RAM) will enable cellular programming and biosurveillance across communities within diverse ecological settings and fundamental studies that examine the environmental controls on conjugation, transduction, and transformation.