Synthetic conversion of leaf chloroplasts into carotenoid-rich plastids reveals mechanistic basis of natural chromoplast development.

Plastids, the defining organelles of plant cells, undergo physiological and morphological changes to fulfill distinct biological functions. In particular, the differentiation of chloroplasts into chromoplasts results in an enhanced storage capacity for carotenoids with industrial and nutritional value such as beta-carotene (provitamin A). Here, we show that synthetically inducing a burst in the production of phytoene, the first committed intermediate of the carotenoid pathway, elicits an artificial chloroplast-to-chromoplast differentiation in leaves. Phytoene overproduction initially interferes with photosynthesis, acting as a metabolic threshold switch mechanism that weakens chloroplast identity. In a second stage, phytoene conversion into downstream carotenoids is required for the differentiation of chromoplasts, a process that involves a concurrent reprogramming of nuclear gene expression and plastid morphology for improved carotenoid storage. We hence demonstrate that loss of photosynthetic competence and enhanced production of carotenoids are not just consequences but requirements for chloroplasts to differentiate into chromoplasts.

Model-based design of RNA hybridization networks implemented in living cells.

Synthetic gene circuits allow the behavior of living cells to be reprogrammed, and non-coding small RNAs (sRNAs) are increasingly being used as programmable regulators of gene expression. However, sRNAs (natural or synthetic) are generally used to regulate single target genes, while complex dynamic behaviors would require networks of sRNAs regulating each other. Here, we report a strategy for implementing such networks that exploits hybridization reactions carried out exclusively by multifaceted sRNAs that are both targets of and triggers for other sRNAs. These networks are ultimately coupled to the control of gene expression. We relied on a thermodynamic model of the different stable conformational states underlying this system at the nucleotide level. To test our model, we designed five different RNA hybridization networks with a linear architecture, and we implemented them in Escherichia coli. We validated the network architecture at the molecular level by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, as well as the network function at the bacterial population and single-cell levels with a fluorescent reporter. Our results suggest that it is possible to engineer complex cellular programs based on RNA from first principles. Because these networks are mainly based on physical interactions, our designs could be expanded to other organisms as portable regulatory resources or to implement biological computations.

Dynamic signal processing by ribozyme-mediated RNA circuits to control gene expression.

Organisms have different circuitries that allow converting signal molecule levels to changes in gene expression. An important challenge in synthetic biology involves the de novo design of RNA modules enabling dynamic signal processing in live cells. This requires a scalable methodology for sensing, transmission, and actuation, which could be assembled into larger signaling networks. Here, we present a biochemical strategy to design RNA-mediated signal transduction cascades able to sense small molecules and small RNAs. We design switchable functional RNA domains by using strand-displacement techniques. We experimentally characterize the molecular mechanism underlying our synthetic RNA signaling cascades, show the ability to regulate gene expression with transduced RNA signals, and describe the signal processing response of our systems to periodic forcing in single live cells. The engineered systems integrate RNA-RNA interaction with available ribozyme and aptamer elements, providing new ways to engineer arbitrary complex gene circuits.

Exploring the Dynamics and Mutational Landscape of Riboregulation with a Minimal Synthetic Circuit in Living Cells.

The regulation of gene expression, triggered by conformational changes in RNA molecules, is widely observed in cellular systems. Here, we examine this mode of control by means of a model-based design and construction of a fully synthetic riboregulatory device. We present a theoretical framework that rests on a simple energy model to predict the dynamic response of such a system. Following an equilibrium description, our framework integrates thermodynamic properties­anticipated with an RNA physicochemical model­with a detailed description of the intermolecular interaction. The theoretical calculations are confirmed with an experimental characterization of the action of the riboregulatory device within living cells. This illustrates, more broadly, the predictability of genetic robustness on synthetic systems, and the faculty to engineer gene expression programs from a minimal set of first principles.

Relocation of the NIb gene in the tobacco etch potyvirus genome.

Potyviruses express most of their proteins from a long open reading frame that is translated into a large polyprotein processed by three viral proteases. To understand the constraints on potyvirus genome organization, we relocated the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (NIb) cistron to all possible intercistronic positions of the Tobacco etch virus (TEV) polyprotein. Only viruses with NIb at the amino terminus of the polyprotein or in between P1 and HC-Pro were viable in tobacco plants.

Full design automation of multi-state RNA devices to program gene expression using energy-based optimization.

Small RNAs (sRNAs) can operate as regulatory agents to control protein expression by interaction with the 5' untranslated region of the mRNA. We have developed a physicochemical framework, relying on base pair interaction energies, to design multi-state sRNA devices by solving an optimization problem with an objective function accounting for the stability of the transition and final intermolecular states. Contrary to the analysis of the reaction kinetics of an ensemble of sRNAs, we solve the inverse problem of finding sequences satisfying targeted reactions. We show here that our objective function correlates well with measured riboregulatory activity of a set of mutants. This has enabled the application of the methodology for an extended design of RNA devices with specified behavior, assuming different molecular interaction models based on Watson-Crick interaction. We designed several YES, NOT, AND, and OR logic gates, including the design of combinatorial riboregulators. In sum, our de novo approach provides a new paradigm in synthetic biology to design molecular interaction mechanisms facilitating future high-throughput functional sRNA design.

Boolean Computation in Plants Using Post-translational Genetic Control and a Visual Output Signal.

Due to autotrophic growing capacity and extremely rich secondary metabolism, plants should be preferred targets of synthetic biology. However, developments in plants usually run below those in other taxonomic groups. In this work we engineered genetic circuits capable of logic YES, OR and AND Boolean computation in plant tissues with a visual output signal. The circuits, which are deployed by means of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, perform with the conditional activity of the MYB transcription factor Rosea1 from Antirrhinum majus inducing the accumulation of anthocyanins, plant endogenous pigments that are directly visible to the naked eye or accurately quantifiable by spectrophotometric analysis. The translational fusion of Rosea1 to several viral proteins, such as potyvirus NIb or fragments thereof, rendered the transcription factor inactive. However, anthocyanin accumulation could be restored by inserting protease cleavage sites between both moieties of the fusion and by coexpressing specific proteases, such as potyvirus nuclear inclusion a protease.

Rewiring carotenoid biosynthesis in plants using a viral vector.

Plants can be engineered to sustainably produce compounds of nutritional, industrial or pharmaceutical relevance. This is, however, a challenging task as extensive regulation of biosynthetic pathways often hampers major metabolic changes. Here we describe the use of a viral vector derived from Tobacco etch virus to express a whole heterologous metabolic pathway that produces the health-promoting carotenoid lycopene in tobacco tissues. The pathway consisted in three enzymes from the soil bacteria Pantoea ananatis. Lycopene is present at undetectable levels in chloroplasts of non-infected leaves. In tissues infected with the viral vector, however, lycopene comprised approximately 10% of the total carotenoid content. Our research further showed that plant viruses that express P. ananatis phytoene synthase (crtB), one of the three enzymes of the heterologous pathway, trigger an accumulation of endogenous carotenoids, which together with a reduction in chlorophylls eventually result in a bright yellow pigmentation of infected tissues in various host-virus combinations. So, besides illustrating the potential of viral vectors for engineering complex metabolic pathways, we also show a yellow carotenoid-based reporter that can be used to visually track infection dynamics of plant viruses either alone or in combination with other visual markers.

Multiple Barriers to the Evolution of Alternative Gene Orders in a Positive-Strand RNA Virus.

The order in which genes are organized within a genome is generally not conserved between distantly related species. However, within virus orders and families, strong conservation of gene order is observed. The factors that constrain or promote gene-order diversity are largely unknown, although the regulation of gene expression is one important constraint for viruses. Here we investigate why gene order is conserved for a positive-strand RNA virus encoding a single polyprotein in the context of its authentic multicellular host. Initially, we identified the most plausible trajectory by which alternative gene orders could evolve. Subsequently, we studied the accessibility of key steps along this evolutionary trajectory by constructing two virus intermediates: (1) duplication of a gene followed by (2) loss of the ancestral gene. We identified five barriers to the evolution of alternative gene orders. First, the number of viable positions for reordering is limited. Second, the within-host fitness of viruses with gene duplications is low compared to the wild-type virus. Third, after duplication, the ancestral gene copy is always maintained and never the duplicated one. Fourth, viruses with an alternative gene order have even lower fitness than viruses with gene duplications. Fifth, after more than half a year of evolution in isolation, viruses with an alternative gene order are still vastly inferior to the wild-type virus. Our results show that all steps along plausible evolutionary trajectories to alternative gene orders are highly unlikely. Hence, the inaccessibility of these trajectories probably contributes to the conservation of gene order in present-day viruses.

A potyvirus vector efficiently targets recombinant proteins to chloroplasts, mitochondria and nuclei in plant cells when expressed at the amino terminus of the polyprotein.

Plant virus-based expression systems allow quick and efficient production of recombinant proteins in plant biofactories. Among them, a system derived from tobacco etch virus (TEV; genus potyvirus) permits coexpression of equimolar amounts of several recombinant proteins. This work analyzed how to target recombinant proteins to different subcellular localizations in the plant cell using this system. We constructed TEV clones in which green fluorescent protein (GFP), with a chloroplast transit peptide (cTP), a nuclear localization signal (NLS) or a mitochondrial targeting peptide (mTP) was expressed either as the most amino-terminal product or embedded in the viral polyprotein. Results showed that cTP and mTP mediated efficient translocation of GFP to the corresponding organelle only when present at the amino terminus of the viral polyprotein. In contrast, the NLS worked efficiently at both positions. Viruses expressing GFP in the amino terminus of the viral polyprotein produced milder symptoms. Untagged GFPs and cTP and NLS tagged amino-terminal GFPs accumulated to higher amounts in infected tissues. Finally, viral progeny from clones with internal GFPs maintained the extra gene better. These observations will help in the design of potyvirus-based vectors able to coexpress several proteins while targeting different subcellular localizations, as required in plant metabolic engineering.

Stability and fitness impact of the visually discernible Rosea1 marker in the Tobacco etch virus genome.

Antirrhinum majus Rosea1 (Ros1) is an MYB-related transcription factor that induces anthocyanin biosynthesis in plant tissues, and has been shown to be suitable for visual tracking of virus infection in plants. However, activation of anthocyanin biosynthesis has far reaching effects on plant physiology and could consequently have negative effects on viral replication. Therefore, viruses carrying the Ros1 marker might have a low fitness and consequently rapidly lose the marker. To compare the stability of the Ros1 marker, we generated Tobacco etch virus (TEV) based constructs containing either Ros1 or the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) between the NIb and CP cistrons (TEV-Ros1 and TEV-eGFP, respectively). We measured the within-host competitive fitness of both viruses by direct competitions with a common competitor during infection of Nicotiana tabacum. The fitness of TEV-Ros1 was significantly lower than that of TEV-eGFP, and both recombinant viruses had a significantly lower fitness than the wild-type virus. Nevertheless, after seven weeks of infection in N. tabacum, similar levels of marker gene instability where found for both viruses. Despite lower fitness of the marked virus, Ros1 is therefore a viable alternative marker for tracking viral infection in plants.