RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Activating natural product synthesis using CRISPR interference and activation systems in Streptomyces JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2021.10.28.466254 DO 10.1101/2021.10.28.466254 A1 Andrea Ameruoso A1 Maria Claudia Villegas Kcam A1 Katherine Piper Cohen A1 James Chappell YR 2021 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/10/28/2021.10.28.466254.abstract AB The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria represents a major threat to global health, creating an urgent need to discover new antibiotics. Natural products derived from the genus Streptomyces represent a rich and diverse repertoire of chemical molecules from which new antibiotics are likely to be found. However, a major challenge is that the biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) responsible for natural product synthesis are often poorly expressed under laboratory culturing conditions, thus preventing isolation and screening of novel chemicals. To address this, we describe a novel approach to activate silent BGCs through rewiring endogenous regulation using synthetic gene regulators based upon CRISPR-Cas. First, we create CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) systems that allow for highly programmable and effective gene repression and activation in Streptomyces. We then harness these tools to activate a silent BGC through perturbing its endogenous regulatory network. Together, this work advances the synthetic regulatory toolbox for Streptomyces and facilitates the programmable activation of silent BGCs for novel chemical discovery.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.