Synthetic yeast chromosome XI design provides a testbed for the study of extrachromosomal circular DNA dynamics.

We describe construction of the synthetic yeast chromosome XI () and reveal the effects of redesign at non-coding DNA elements. The 660-kb synthetic yeast genome project (Sc2.0) chromosome was assembled from synthesized DNA fragments before CRISPR-based methods were used in a process of bug discovery, redesign, and chromosome repair, including precise compaction of 200 kb of repeat sequence.

Entirely Off-Grid and Solar-Powered DNA Sequencing of Microbial Communities during an Ice Cap Traverse Expedition.

Microbial communities in remote locations remain under-studied. This is particularly true on glaciers and icecaps, which cover approximately 11% of the Earth's surface. The principal reason for this is the inaccessibility of most of these areas due to their extreme isolation and challenging environmental conditions.

Off-Colony Screening of Biosynthetic Libraries by Rapid Laser-Enabled Mass Spectrometry.

By leveraging advances in DNA synthesis and molecular cloning techniques, synthetic biology increasingly makes use of large construct libraries to explore large design spaces. For biosynthetic pathway engineering, the ability to screen these libraries for a variety of metabolites of interest is essential. If the metabolite of interest or the metabolic phenotype is not easily measurable, screening soon becomes a major bottleneck involving time-consuming culturing, sample preparation, and extraction.

Engineering a Model Cell for Rational Tuning of GPCR Signaling.

G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling is the primary method eukaryotes use to respond to specific cues in their environment. However, the relationship between stimulus and response for each GPCR is difficult to predict due to diversity in natural signal transduction architecture and expression. Using genome engineering in yeast, we constructed an insulated, modular GPCR signal transduction system to study how the response to stimuli can be predictably tuned using synthetic tools.

Starved Escherichia coli preserve reducing power under nitric oxide stress.

Nitric oxide (NO) detoxification enzymes, such as NO dioxygenase (NOD) and NO reductase (NOR), are important to the virulence of numerous bacteria. Pathogens use these defense systems to ward off immune-generated NO, and they do so in environments that contain additional stressors, such as reactive oxygen species, nutrient deprivation, and acid stress. NOD and NOR both use reducing equivalents to metabolically deactivate NO, which suggests that nutrient deprivation could negatively impact their functionality.