Primary cell wall inspired micro containers as a step towards a synthetic plant cell.

The structural integrity of living plant cells heavily relies on the plant cell wall containing a nanofibrous cellulose skeleton. Hence, if synthetic plant cells consist of such a cell wall, they would allow for manipulation into more complex synthetic plant structures. Herein, we have overcome the fundamental difficulties associated with assembling lipid vesicles with cellulosic nanofibers (CNFs). We prepare plantosomes with an outer shell of CNF and pectin, and beneath this, a thin layer of lipids (oleic acid and phospholipids) that surrounds a water core. By exploiting the phase behavior of the lipids, regulated by pH and Mg2+ ions, we form vesicle-crowded interiors that change the outer dimension of the plantosomes, mimicking the expansion in real plant cells during, e.g., growth. The internal pressure enables growth of lipid tubules through the plantosome cell wall, which paves the way to the development of hierarchical plant structures and advanced synthetic plant cell mimics.

Modulation of Higher-order Behaviour in Model Protocell Communities by Artificial Phagocytosis.

Collective behaviour in mixed populations of synthetic protocells is an unexplored area of bottom-up synthetic biology. The dynamics of a model protocell community is exploited to modulate the function and higher-order behaviour of mixed populations of bioinorganic protocells in response to a process of artificial phagocytosis. Enzyme-loaded silica colloidosomes are spontaneously engulfed by magnetic Pickering emulsion (MPE) droplets containing complementary enzyme substrates to initiate a range of processes within the host/guest protocells. Specifically, catalase, lipase, or alkaline phosphatase-filled colloidosomes are used to trigger phagocytosis-induced buoyancy, membrane reconstruction, or hydrogelation, respectively, within the MPE droplets. The results highlight the potential for exploiting surface-contact interactions between different membrane-bounded droplets to transfer and co-locate discrete chemical packages (artificial organelles) in communities of synthetic protocells.

Synthetic cellularity based on non-lipid micro-compartments and protocell models.

This review discusses recent advances in the design and construction of protocell models based on the self-assembly or microphase separation of non-lipid building blocks. We focus on strategies involving partially hydrophobic inorganic nanoparticles (colloidosomes), protein-polymer globular nano-conjugates (proteinosomes), amphiphilic block copolymers (polymersomes), and stoichiometric mixtures of oppositely charged biomolecules and polyelectrolytes (coacervates). Developments in the engineering of membrane functionality to produce synthetic protocells with gated responses and control over multi-step reactions are described. New routes to protocells comprising molecularly crowded, cytoskeletal-like hydrogel interiors, as well as to the construction of hybrid protocell models are also highlighted. Together, these strategies enable a wide range of biomolecular and synthetic components to be encapsulated, regulated and processed within the micro-compartmentalized volume, and suggest that the development of non-lipid micro-ensembles offers an approach that is complementary to protocell models based on phospholipid or fatty acid vesicles.

Prebiotic petroleum.

This short communication summarizes a global and continuous reflection on the origins of life. "Prebiotic Petroleum" assumes that "the class of most complex molecules of life that may have geochemical and abiotic origin is the class of fatty acids with long aliphatic chains" and proposes a physical process for the formation of liposomes. Developments following the workshop start from the idea that the liposomes also acquire ion exchange channels physically during their forming process.