Arizona_State
Our Project
Homoserine lactones (HSLs) are a family of small molecules used to coordinate behavior in some bacteria. Group regulation is known as quorum sensing (QS) and is responsible for behaviors such as bacterial virulence, growth, and bioluminescence. Genetic components from QS systems have been modularized by synthetic biologists and incorporated into synthetic circuits. A significant hurdle to using HSLs in synthetic systems is cross-reactivity between a sender and non-target receivers. Crosstalk can be mitigated by orthogonal systems that do not communicate with each other. Our project characterizes interactions between HSL-producing sender cells and our newly developed receivers (LasR, TraR, and RpaR) using an HSL-induced GFP reporter system. We expect to add 3 new well-characterized receivers to build upon foundational advances such as the work with LuxR (BBa_F2620) by Dr. Barry Canton. Our work also builds upon important research in biosafety (from our 2016 project) by using ethyl alcohol eliminate HSL bioactivity.
