Modular cell-free expression plasmids to accelerate biological design in cells

• Published in: Synthetic biology (Oxford University Press) 2020-01, Vol.5 (1), p.ysaa019-ysaa019
• Main Authors: Karim, Ashty S, Liew, Fungmin Eric, Garg, Shivani, Vögeli, Bastian, Rasor, Blake J, Gonnot, Aislinn, Pavan, Marilene, Juminaga, Alex, Simpson, Séan D, Köpke, Michael, Jewett, Michael C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; cell-free systems; Clostridium; industrial biotechnology; metabolic engineering; plasmids
• ISSN: 2397-7000; 2397-7000
• DOI: 10.1093/synbio/ysaa019

Industrial biotechnology aims to produce high-value products from renewable resources. This can be challenging because model microorganisms-organisms that are easy to use like -often lack the machinery required to utilize desired feedstocks like lignocellulosic biomass or syngas. Non-model organisms, such as , are industrially proven and have desirable metabolic features but have several hurdles to mainstream use. Namely, these species grow more slowly than conventional laboratory microbes, and genetic tools for engineering them are far less prevalent. To address these hurdles for accelerating cellular design, cell-free synthetic biology has matured as an approach for characterizing non-model organisms and rapidly testing metabolic pathways . Unfortunately, cell-free systems can require specialized DNA architectures with minimal regulation that are not compatible with cellular expression. In this work, we develop a modular vector system that allows for T7 expression of desired enzymes for cell-free expression and direct Golden Gate assembly into expression vectors. Utilizing the Joint Genome Institute's DNA Synthesis Community Science Program, we designed and synthesized these plasmids and genes required for our projects allowing us to shuttle DNA easily between our and experiments. We next validated that these vectors were sufficient for cell-free expression of functional enzymes, performing on par with the previous state-of-the-art. Lastly, we demonstrated automated six-part DNA assemblies for expression with efficiencies ranging from 68% to 90%. We anticipate this system of plasmids will enable a framework for facile testing of biosynthetic pathways and by shortening development cycles.