Engineering plasmid copy number heterogeneity for dynamic microbial adaptation.

ABSTRACT: Natural microbial populations exploit phenotypic heterogeneity for survival and adaptation. However, in engineering biology, limiting the sources of variability is a major focus. Here we show that intentionally coupling distinct plasmids via shared replication mechanisms enables bacterial populations to adapt to their environment. We demonstrate that plasmid coupling of carbon-metabolizing operons facilitates copy number tuning of an essential but burdensome construct through the action of a stably maintained, non-essential plasmid. For specific cost-benefit situations, incompatible two-plasmid systems can stably persist longer than compatible ones. We also show using microfluidics that plasmid coupling of synthetic constructs generates population-state memory of previous environmental ada

SUBMITTER: Kumar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11623956 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature