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Scientists equip bacteria with custom chemo-navigational system
May 11, 2007Using an innovative method to control the movement of Escherichia coli in a chemical environment, Emory University scientists have opened the door to powerful new opportunities in drug delivery, environmental cleanup and synthetic biology. Their findings are published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and will be published in a future print issue.
Justin Gallivan, PhD, assistant professor of chemistry, and graduate student Shana Topp successfully reprogrammed E. coli's chemo-navigational system to detect, follow and precisely localize to specific chemical signals. In doing so, the scientists exploited E. coli's natural chemotaxis, a microbe's ability to move toward specific chemicals in its environment.
"Equipping bacteria with a way to degrade pollutants, synthesize and release therapeutics, or transport chemicals with an ability to localize to a specific chemical signal would open new frontiers in environmental cleanup, drug delivery and synthetic biology," says Dr. Gallivan.
The researchers equipped E. coli with a "riboswitch," a segment of RNA that changes shape when bound to certain small target molecules, which can then turn genes on or off. Dr. Gallivan and Topp believe that the riboswitch can be used to equip other types of self-propelled bacteria with "chemo-navigation" systems to move them toward desired targets.
Chemotactic bacteria navigate chemical environments by coupling their information-processing capabilities to powerful, tiny molecular motors that propel the cells forward.
Researchers have long envisioned reprogramming bacteria so that microbes capable of synthesizing an anti-cancer drug, for instance, can be used to target diseased cells while sparing healthy cells of side effects. Likewise, scientists are researching ways to use bacteria to clean up oil spills or remove other pollutants from soil, water and wastewater.
"This new ability to equip motile bacteria with a precise and tunable chemo-navigation system will greatly enhance the impressive arsenal of natural and engineered cell behaviors," says Dr. Gallivan.
Emory University
The researchers equipped E. coli with a "riboswitch," a segment of RNA that changes shape when bound to certain small target molecules, which can then turn genes on or off. Dr. Gallivan and Topp believe that the riboswitch can be used to equip other types of self-propelled bacteria with "chemo-navigation" systems to move them toward desired targets.
Chemotactic bacteria navigate chemical environments by coupling their information-processing capabilities to powerful, tiny molecular motors that propel the cells forward.
Researchers have long envisioned reprogramming bacteria so that microbes capable of synthesizing an anti-cancer drug, for instance, can be used to target diseased cells while sparing healthy cells of side effects. Likewise, scientists are researching ways to use bacteria to clean up oil spills or remove other pollutants from soil, water and wastewater.
"This new ability to equip motile bacteria with a precise and tunable chemo-navigation system will greatly enhance the impressive arsenal of natural and engineered cell behaviors," says Dr. Gallivan.
Emory University
Bacteria Current Events and Bacteria News RSSOn the Trail of a Vaccine for Lyme Disease: Yale Researchers Target Tick Saliva
A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites.
Cigarettes Harbor Many Bacteria Harmful to Human Health
Cigarettes are "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people, concludes a new international study conducted by a University of Maryland environmental health researcher and microbial ecologists at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France.
ORNL, Los Alamos pioneer new approach to assist scientists, farmers
Sustainable farming, initially adopted to preserve soil quality for future generations, may also play a role in maintaining a healthy climate, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge and Los Alamos national laboratories.
UAB Researchers Discover Antibody Receptor Identity, Propose Renaming Immune-System Gene
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have uncovered the genetic identity of a cellular receptor for the immune system's first-response antibody, a discovery that sheds new light on infection control and immune disorders.
Scientists find molecular trigger that helps prevent aging and disease
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine set out to address a question that has been challenging scientists for years: How do dietary restriction-and the reverse, overconsumption-produce protective effects against aging and disease?
Texas A&M Researchers Examine How Viruses Destroy Bacteria
Viruses are well known for attacking humans and animals, but some viruses instead attack bacteria. Texas A&M University researchers are exploring how hungry viruses, armed with transformer-like weapons, attack bacteria, which may aid in the treatment of bacterial infections.
A Second Skin
Despite advances in treatment regimens and the best efforts of nurses and doctors, about 70% of all people with severe burns die from related infections.
Study reveals why certain drug combinations backfire
Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen's protective barriers and opens the door for another to deliver the deathblow.
Simple test could offer cheap solution to detecting landmines
Scientists have developed a simple, cheap, accurate test to find undetected landmines.
New explanation for nature's hardiest life form
Got food poisoning? The cause might be bacterial spores, en extremely hardy survival form of bacteria, a nightmare for health care and the food industry and an enigma for scientists.
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