Exploring single-cell biosynthetic noise and dynamics for enhanced betaxanthin production in Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: Cell-to-cell variability often limits the efficiency of microbial bioproduction, yet how individual cells fluctuate over time and how these fluctuations shape population-level output remain unclear. To address this issue, we tracked a heterologous betaxanthin pathway in Escherichia coli using microfluidics-assisted time-lapse microscopy, allowing simultaneous measurement of fluctuations in betaxanthin, its biosynthetic enzyme DOD and growth across generations. Here we show that over 50% of high betaxanthin producers become medium or low producers after two divisions. Betaxanthin variation primarily originates from DOD noise, with a smaller contribution from growth rate fluctuations. We further develop a stochastic model to explore various control circuits and find that pathway enzyme or me

SUBMITTER: Mu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12848102 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature