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US 12,668,772 B2Granted
Microbial stem cell technology
OwnerGrant Bowman, Nikolai Mushnikov +1inventors
InventorsGrant Bowman, Nikolai Mushnikov, Mark Gomelsky
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to microbial stem cell technology that enables a growing microbial culture to stably maintain two or more distinct cell types in a ratio that can be genetically programmed and/or dynamically controlled during cultivation. It is contemplated that embodiments described herein can be utilized to increase product yield in microbial fermentations and advanced engineering of biomaterials using genetically engineered microbial cells, among others.
Claims6
A method of establishing bacterial cell types, comprising:
- introducing a nucleic acid sequence into a bacterial cell population,
- translationally fusing at least a first signaling protein and a second signaling protein to a PopZ protein, the PopZ protein adapted to asymmetrically localize at a first end of cells within the bacterial cell population, to form a PopZ-signaling factor complex configured to influence cell physiology;
- inducing expression of the nucleic acid sequence by observing the first signaling protein;
- forming first cells that contain the PopZ-signaling factor complex and second cells that do not contain the PopZ-signaling factor complex via asymmetric cell division of the cells between the first end of the cells and a second end of the cells;
- introducing a small molecule in the bacterial cell population to enhance the establishment of the first cells and the second cells by observing the second signaling protein;
- and
- eliciting a different behavior in the first cells containing the PopZ-signaling factor complex and the second cells without the PopZ-signaling factor complex of the bacterial cell population.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.