CH391L/S12/MAGE lycopene production, CAGE "Amberless" E. coli
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MAGE Lycopene Production
Mulitplex Automated Genome Engineering
MAGE or multiplex automated genome engineering is a technique developed in George Church's lab at Harvard that can be used for large-scale programming and evolution of cells. Many directed evolution and in vitro technologies are limited to manipulations of single genes, making it slow if trying to alter much of the chromosome. MAGE has advantages over these techniques because it is able to simultaneously target many locations on chromosome for modification.[1] Modification can be in the form of mismatch mutations, insertions, or deletions. Through the use of oligos with well-defined sequences, predictable modification can arise. However, through degenerate nucleotides, high-diversity chromosome modifications occur, producing a large variety of genetic variants. (Figure 1)
Lamba-Red Bacteriophage
Modification in MAGE is done through oligo-mediated allelic replacement, which is controlled by the λ-Red single-stranded DNA binding protein β. This protein works by binding the single-stranded oligo and helping it to displace the okazaki fragment on the lagging strand. Normally, the cell's repair proteins would spot the mismatch, but one of the key genes for the repair mechanism has been knocked out. (More details) Upon the next round of DNA replication, the introduced oligo is copied and becomes part of genome. It is also possible that the fragments to be replaced by other near matching oligos, generating huge diversity. The Church group found using 90-mer oligos were the most efficient for replacement. This is likely due to the λ-Red protein needing at least 30 bps to complex DNA, and that 90bp presents a good chance of homology to the target.. As well, oligos larger than 90-mer have a higher chance of forming secondary structure, greatly reducing replacement effieciency.
Efficiency of MAGE
Through oligo-mediated allelic replacement with the λ-Red single-stranded DNA binding protein β, mismatch mutations up to 30bp, insertions up to 30bp, and deletions of up to 45 kbp were introduced to cell populations.[1] (Image Figure 2) The efficiency of a mismatch or insertion is based on its homology to the genome target, and deletion efficiency is based on size. Since oligos with more homology to target sites are incorporated at a higher frequency, MAGE can be tuned to provide desired evolution.
Measuring Sequence Diversity Rate
Finding the rate of genomic diversification by MAGE was done by making mismatch changes using three different 90-mer oligos to target a part of the lacZ gene. Olgis cN6 and cN30 contained 6 and 30 sequential degenerate bases, respectively. While, iN6 oligos had 6 degenerate bases spread out over a 30 bp region. [1] The data comes from 96 random clonal isolates after MAGE cycles of 2, 5, 10, or 15, which gives a good idea of variation in the cell populations. In the cN6 population, more than 4.3 billion variants were produced each day. After 15 cycles, all genotype combinations of N6 cell populations were created from either the cN6 or iN6. While only 21.8% of the cN30 population had accomplished allelic replacement in 15 cycles, likely because it is more difficult to match 30 consecutive degenerate bases. The Church group determined that MAGE diversity is dependent on: "the degree of sequence variation desired at each locus, the number of loci targeted, and the number of MAGE cycles performed".[1] (Image)
Lycopene Production
Lycopene is a carotenoid pigment found in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, because it is non-toxic and has antioxidant properties it is a good food coloring agent. It is also an important intermediate in the synthesis of many other carotenoids. Screening lycopene production is simple because colonies producing it show intense red pigmentation. (Image)
DXP Pathway
The 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate or DXP synthesis pathway is responsible for lycopene production.
Tuning Parameters
Whole-genome Synthesis
In 2010 the Venter group of JCVI synthesized a 1.08–mega–base pair genome and transplanted it to M. capricolum to create the new M. mycoides. (Cite Venter) This synthetic biology achievement took 400 scientists year to create, along with a whopping price tag of $40 million. So unless you are Craig Venter, this approach to genome synthesis is likely unrealistic, but this is where MAGE may shine. The idea is that you add only DNA with the specific changes to the genome desired, rather than DNA with random mutations. Even if you are trying to change hundreds or thousands of genes at once, after a few cycles in the machine, a good proportion of the cells should have all the desired changes. This can be checked by sequencing. (Cite http://b-giar.blogspot.com/2011/07/evolution-machine-genetic-engineering.html)
CAGE "Amberless" E. Coli
References
<biblio>
- Wang2009 pmid=19633652
- Isaacs2011 pmid=21764749
