Detecting changes in the caenorhabditis elegans intestinal environment using an engineered bacterial biosensor.
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Caenorhabditis elegans has become a key model organism within biology. In particular, the transparent gut, rapid growing time, and ability to create a defined gut microbiota make it an ideal candidate organism for understanding and engineering the host microbiota. Here we present the development of an experimental model that can be used to characterize whole-cell bacterial biosensors in vivo. A dual-plasmid sensor system responding to isopropyl β-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside was developed and fully characterized in vitro. Subsequently, we show that the sensor was capable of detecting and reporting on changes in the intestinal environment of C. elegans after introducing an exogenous inducer into the environment. The protocols presented here may be used to aid the rational design of engineered bacterial circuits, primarily for diagnostic applications. In addition, the model system may serve to reduce the use of current animal models and aid in the exploration of complex questions within general nematode and host-microbe biology.
Date Issued
2019-12-20
Date Acceptance
2019-10-01
Citation
ACS Synthetic Biology, 2019, 8 (12), pp.2620-2628
ISSN
2161-5063
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
2620
End Page
2628
Journal / Book Title
ACS Synthetic Biology
Volume
8
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
© 2019 American Chemical Society. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) (http://pubs.acs.org/page/policy/authorchoice_ccby_termsofuse.html)
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the author and source are cited.
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the author and source are cited.
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31657907
Grant Number
102531/Z/13/A
Subjects
Caenorhabditis elegans
E. coli Nissle 1917
biosensors
microbiome engineering
synthetic biology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2019-10-28