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Synthetic Turing patterns in engineered microbial consortia

View ORCID ProfileSalva Duran-Nebreda, Jordi Pla, View ORCID ProfileBlai Vidiella, View ORCID ProfileJordi Piñero, View ORCID ProfileNuria Conde, View ORCID ProfileRicard Solé
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.15.153205
Salva Duran-Nebreda
1Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
2ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
4Evolution of Technology Lab, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
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  • ORCID record for Salva Duran-Nebreda
  • For correspondence: salvador.duran@upf.edu
Jordi Pla
1Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
2ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
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Blai Vidiella
1Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
2ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
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Jordi Piñero
1Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
2ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
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Nuria Conde
1Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
2ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
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Ricard Solé
1Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
2ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
3Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe NM 87501, USA
4Evolution of Technology Lab, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
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  • For correspondence: ricard.sole@upf.edu
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Abstract

Multicellular entities are characterized by exquisite spatial patterns, intimately related to the functions they perform. Oftentimes these patterns emerge as periodic structures with a well-defined characteristic scale. A candidate mechanism to explain their origins was early introduced by Alan Turing through the interaction and diffusion of two so called morphogens. Unfortunately, most available evidence for Turing patterns in biology is usually obscured by the tangled nature of regulatory phenomena, making difficult to validate Turing’s proposal in developmental processes. Here we follow a different approach, by designing synthetic genetic circuits in engineered E. coli strains that implement the essential activator-inhibitor motif (AIM) using a two-cell consortium. The two diffusible compartments are one cell type (activator, small-diffusion component) and a small signal molecule (a homoserine lactone, acting as the fast-diffusing inhibitor). Using both experimental results, we show that the AIM is capable of generating diffusion-induced instabilities leading to regular spatial patterns. The artificial construction taken here can help validate developmental theories and identify universal properties underpinning biological pattern formation. The implications of the work for the area of synthetic developmental biology are outlined.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted June 15, 2020.
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Synthetic Turing patterns in engineered microbial consortia
Salva Duran-Nebreda, Jordi Pla, Blai Vidiella, Jordi Piñero, Nuria Conde, Ricard Solé
bioRxiv 2020.06.15.153205; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.15.153205
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Synthetic Turing patterns in engineered microbial consortia
Salva Duran-Nebreda, Jordi Pla, Blai Vidiella, Jordi Piñero, Nuria Conde, Ricard Solé
bioRxiv 2020.06.15.153205; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.15.153205

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