To utilize biofi lms for chemical transformations in biorefi neries they need to be controlled andreplaced. Previously, we engineered the global regulator Hha and cyclic diguanylate-bindingBdcA to create proteins that enable biofi lm dispersal. Here we report a biofi lm circuit thatutilizes these two dispersal proteins along with a population-driven quorum-sensing switch.With this synthetic circuit, in a novel microfl uidic device, we form an initial colonizer biofi lm,introduce a second cell type (dispersers) into this existing biofi lm, form a robust dual-speciesbiofi lm and displace the initial colonizer cells in the biofi lm with an extracellular signal from thedisperser cells. We also remove the disperser biofi lm with a chemically induced switch, andthe consortial population could tune. Therefore, for the first time, cells have been engineeredthat are able to displace an existing biofi lm and then be removed on command allowing one tocontrol consortial biofi lm formation for various applications.
展开▼
