Genetically Programmable Microbial Assembly

Engineered microbial communities
show promise in a wide range of
applications, including environmental remediation, microbiome engineering,
and synthesis of fine chemicals. Here we present methods by which
bacterial aggregates can be directed into several distinct architectures
by inducible surface expression of heteroassociative protein domains
(SpyTag/SpyCatcher and SynZip17/18). Programmed aggregation can be
used to activate a quorum-sensing circuit, and aggregate size can
be tuned via control of the amount of the associative
protein displayed on the cell surface. We further demonstrate reversibility
of SynZip-mediated assembly by addition of soluble competitor peptide.
Genetically programmable bacterial assembly provides a starting point
for the development of new applications of engineered microbial communities
in environmental technology, agriculture, human health, and bioreactor
design.