cell-free-protein-expression-using-rapidly-growing-bacterium-vibrio

Cell-free Protein Expression Using the Rapidly Growing Bacterium <em>Vibrio natriegens</em>

The marine bacterium Vibrio natriegens has garnered considerable attention as an emerging microbial host for biotechnology due to its fast growth rate. A ...

Harvard Medical School

Recoding--the repurposing of genetic codons--is a powerful strategy for enhancing genomes with functions not commonly found in nature. Here, we report computational design, synthesis, and progress toward assembly of a 3.97-megabase, 57-codon Escherichia coli genome in which all 62,214 instances of seven codons were replaced with synonymous alternatives across all protein-coding genes. We have validated 63% of recoded genes by individually testing 55 segments of 50 kilobases each. We observed that 91% of tested essential genes retained functionality with limited fitness effect. We demonstrate identification and correction of lethal design exceptions, only 13 of which were found in 2229 genes. This work underscores the feasibility of rewriting genomes and establishes a framework for large-scale design, assembly, troubleshooting, and phenotypic analysis of synthetic organisms.

Design, synthesis, and testing toward a 57-codon genome.

The fast growing bacterium Vibrio natriegens is an emerging microbial host for biotechnology. Harnessing its productive cellular components may offer a compelling platform for rapid protein production and prototyping of metabolic pathways or genetic circuits. Here, we report the development of a V. natriegens cell-free expression system. We devised a simplified crude extract preparation protocol and achieved >260 μg/mL of superfolder GFP in a small-scale batch reaction after 3 h. Culturing conditions, including growth media and cell density, significantly affect translation kinetics and protein yield of extracts. We observed maximal protein yield at incubation temperatures of 26 or 30 °C, and show improved yield by tuning ions crucial for ribosomal stability. This work establishes an initial V. natriegens cell-free expression system, enables probing of V. natriegens biology, and will serve as a platform to accelerate metabolic engineering and synthetic biology applications.

Nili Ostrov

Department of Genetics

Harvard Medical School

Cell-free Protein Expression Using the Rapidly Growing Bacterium Vibrio natriegens

Nili Ostrov

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Genetics

Harvard Medical School

Cell-free Protein Expression Using the Rapidly Growing Bacterium Vibrio natriegens

Department of Genetics