Sigma Factor-Mediated Tuning of Bacterial Cell-Free Synthetic Genetic Oscillators.

ABSTRACT: Cell-free transcription-translation provides a simplified prototyping environment to rapidly design and study synthetic networks. Despite the presence of a well characterized toolbox of genetic elements, examples of genetic networks that exhibit complex temporal behavior are scarce. Here, we present a genetic oscillator implemented in an E. coli-based cell-free system under steady-state conditions using microfluidic flow reactors. The oscillator has an activator-repressor motif that utilizes the native transcriptional machinery of E. coli: the RNAP and its associated sigma factors. We optimized a kinetic model with experimental data using an evolutionary algorithm to quantify the key regulatory model parameters. The functional modulation of the RNAP was investigated by coupling two oscilla

SUBMITTER: Yelleswarapu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6305555 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature