A light tunable differentiation system for the creation and control of consortia in yeast

Chetan Aditya (1) , François Bertaux (1) , Gregory Batt (1) , Jakob Ruess (1)

1 INBIO - InBio - Méthodes Expérimentales et Computationnelles pour la Modélisation des Processus Cellulaires / Experimental and Computational Methods for Modeling Cellular Processes

Artificial microbial consortia seek to leverage division-of-labour to optimize function and possess immense potential for bioproduction. Co-culturing approaches, the preferred mode of generating a consortium, remain limited in their ability to give rise to stable consortia having finely tuned compositions. Here, we present an artificial differentiation system in budding yeast capable of generating stable microbial consortia with custom functionalities from a single strain at user-defined composition in space and in time based on optogenetically-driven genetic rewiring. Owing to fast, reproducible, and light-tunable dynamics, our system enables dynamic control of consortia composition in continuous cultures for extended periods. We further demonstrate that our system can be extended in a straightforward manner to give rise to consortia with multiple subpopulations. Our artificial differentiation strategy establishes a novel paradigm for the creation of complex microbial consortia that are simple to implement, precisely controllable, and versatile to use.

Domaines: Bio-Informatique, Biologie Systémique [q-bio.QM]

Chetan Aditya, François Bertaux, Gregory Batt, Jakob Ruess. A light tunable differentiation system for the creation and control of consortia in yeast. Nature Communications, 2021, 12, pp.5829. ⟨10.1038/s41467-021-26129-7⟩. ⟨pasteur-03263577⟩