Color Bacterial photo

Bacteria drew Mario with the help of light

Ekaterina Rusakova, N+1

Genetic engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have taught E. coli (Escherichia coli) "distinguish" red, green and blue colors and produce colored pigments under the influence of light. Scientists have obtained color "photos" created by genetically modified bacteria on cups with a nutrient medium. The article was published in Nature Chemical Biology (Fernandez-Rodriguez et al., Engineering RGB color vision into Escherichia coli), a brief description of the new design is described in the Nature editorial.

Here and below are the drawings from the article in Nat. Chem. Biol.

According to lead author Christopher Voigt, the researchers wanted to find a way to remotely "turn on" and "turn off" several genes in a bacterial cell independently of each other. Controlling bacteria with light is easier and cheaper than stimulating them with chemicals. Such a system would help scientists control microorganisms that are used for the industrial production of medicines, and reduce the amount of by-products formed in cells.

Biologists from MIT started designing bacteria-"photographers" more than ten years ago. In 2005, they published an article in which they reported on the E.coli bacteria they had obtained, capable of creating black-and-white "photos". The design created by biologists consisted of four genes, including a photoreceptor protein gene that was "turned on" by red light, and a protein that helped bacteria produce a black pigment that colored the nutrient medium.

In the new work, scientists have already added 18 genes to E. coli cells, among them genes of proteins that were "turned on" by red light (wavelength – 650 nanometers), green (532 nanometers) and blue (470 nanometers) light. Biologists also added genes of enzymes producing red, green and blue pigments to the design. After activation by light of a certain wavelength, the bacteria began to produce a pigment of the appropriate color. After 18 hours of incubation of bacteria on the cups with the nutrient medium, the cups were painted in one or more colors. As a result, scientists received several "photos", including an image of a jumping Mario from a famous computer game.

The authors named their light-sensitive system "disco bacteria", apparently by association with flashing multicolored lights.

A few years ago, the term "bacterial" or "microbial" art appeared. As a "canvas", scientists use cups with a nutrient medium on which bacteria or yeast containing fluorescent proteins or producing multicolored pigments are grown. The American Microbiological Society even holds an annual "Agar Art Contest", to which scientists present their "canvases" painted by bacteria on Petri dishes.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  23.05.2017