A fluoride-responsive genetic circuit enables in vivo biofluorination in engineered Pseudomonas putida

Nat Commun. 2020 Oct 7;11(1):5045. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18813-x.

Abstract

Fluorine is a key element in the synthesis of molecules broadly used in medicine, agriculture and materials. Addition of fluorine to organic structures represents a unique strategy for tuning molecular properties, yet this atom is rarely found in Nature and approaches to integrate fluorometabolites into the biochemistry of living cells are scarce. In this work, synthetic gene circuits for organofluorine biosynthesis are implemented in the platform bacterium Pseudomonas putida. By harnessing fluoride-responsive riboswitches and the orthogonal T7 RNA polymerase, biochemical reactions needed for in vivo biofluorination are wired to the presence of fluoride (i.e. circumventing the need of feeding expensive additives). Biosynthesis of fluoronucleotides and fluorosugars in engineered P. putida is demonstrated with mineral fluoride both as only fluorine source (i.e. substrate of the pathway) and as inducer of the synthetic circuit. This approach expands the chemical landscape of cell factories by providing alternative biosynthetic strategies towards fluorinated building-blocks.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Biosynthetic Pathways / genetics
  • DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / genetics
  • Fluorides / metabolism
  • Fluorine / metabolism
  • Gene Regulatory Networks*
  • Halogenation / genetics*
  • Membrane Transport Proteins / genetics
  • Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism
  • Metabolic Engineering / methods*
  • Mutation
  • Pseudomonas putida / genetics
  • Pseudomonas putida / metabolism*
  • RNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Riboswitch / genetics
  • Synthetic Biology / methods*
  • Viral Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • RNA, Bacterial
  • Riboswitch
  • Viral Proteins
  • Fluorine
  • bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase
  • DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases
  • Fluorides