Curated Optogenetic Publication Database

Abstract: Biological systems assemble living materials that are autonomously patterned, can self-repair and can sense and respond to their environment. The field of engineered living materials aims to create novel materials with properties similar to those of natural biomaterials using genetically engineered organisms. Here, we describe an approach to fabricating functional bacterial cellulose-based living materials using a stable co-culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and bacterial cellulose-producing Komagataeibacter rhaeticus bacteria. Yeast strains can be engineered to secrete enzymes into bacterial cellulose, generating autonomously grown catalytic materials and enabling DNA-encoded modification of bacterial cellulose bulk properties. Alternatively, engineered yeast can be incorporated within the growing cellulose matrix, creating living materials that can sense and respond to chemical and optical stimuli. This symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast is a flexible platform for the production of bacterial cellulose-based engineered living materials with potential applications in biosensing and biocatalysis.

Abstract: Living cells can impart materials with advanced functions, such as sense-and-respond, chemical production, toxin remediation, energy generation and storage, self-destruction, and self-healing. Here, an approach is presented to use light to pattern Escherichia coli onto diverse materials by controlling the expression of curli fibers that anchor the formation of a biofilm. Different colors of light are used to express variants of the structural protein CsgA fused to different peptide tags. By projecting color images onto the material containing bacteria, this system can be used to pattern the growth of composite materials, including layers of protein and gold nanoparticles. This is used to pattern cells onto materials used for 3D printing, plastics (polystyrene), and textiles (cotton). Further, the adhered cells are demonstrated to respond to sensory information, including small molecules (IPTG and DAPG) and light from light-emitting diodes. This work advances the capacity to engineer responsive living materials in which cells provide diverse functionality.