Simultaneous repression of multiple bacterial genes using nonrepetitive extra-long sgRNA arrays
Abstract
Engineering cellular phenotypes often requires the regulation of many genes. When using CRISPR interference, co-expressing many single-guide RNAs (sgRNAs) triggers genetic instability and phenotype loss, due to the presence of repetitive DNA sequences. We stably co-expressed 22 sgRNAs within non-repetitive extra-long sgRNA arrays (ELSAs) to simultaneously repress up to 13 genes by up to 3500-fold. We apply biophysical modeling, biochemical characterization, and machine learning to develop toolboxes of non-repetitive genetic parts, including 28 sgRNA handles that bind Cas9. We design ELSAs by combining non-repetitive genetic parts according to algorithmic rules quantifying DNA synthesis complexity, sgRNA expression, sgRNA targeting, and genetic stability. Using ELSAs, we created three highly selective phenotypes in Escherichia coli, including redirecting metabolism to increase succinic acid production by 150-fold, knocking down amino acid biosynthesis to create a multi-auxotrophic strain, and repressing stress responses to reduce persister cell formation by 21-fold. ELSAs enable simultaneous and stable regulation of many genes for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology applications.
- Authors:
-
- Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Biological Systems Science Division; US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1569832
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1593337
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0019090; FA9550-14-1-0089; CBET-1253641; FA8750-17-C-0254
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nature Biotechnology
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 37; Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 1087-0156
- Publisher:
- Springer Nature
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES; Synthetic Biology; Metabolic Engineering; CRISPR; synthetic biology; CRISPR/Cas9
Citation Formats
Reis, Alexander C., Halper, Sean M., Vezeau, Grace E., Cetnar, Daniel P., Hossain, Ayaan, Clauer, Phillip R., and Salis, Howard M. Simultaneous repression of multiple bacterial genes using nonrepetitive extra-long sgRNA arrays. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1038/s41587-019-0286-9.
Reis, Alexander C., Halper, Sean M., Vezeau, Grace E., Cetnar, Daniel P., Hossain, Ayaan, Clauer, Phillip R., & Salis, Howard M. Simultaneous repression of multiple bacterial genes using nonrepetitive extra-long sgRNA arrays. United States. doi:10.1038/s41587-019-0286-9.
Reis, Alexander C., Halper, Sean M., Vezeau, Grace E., Cetnar, Daniel P., Hossain, Ayaan, Clauer, Phillip R., and Salis, Howard M. Mon .
"Simultaneous repression of multiple bacterial genes using nonrepetitive extra-long sgRNA arrays". United States. doi:10.1038/s41587-019-0286-9. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1569832.
@article{osti_1569832,
title = {Simultaneous repression of multiple bacterial genes using nonrepetitive extra-long sgRNA arrays},
author = {Reis, Alexander C. and Halper, Sean M. and Vezeau, Grace E. and Cetnar, Daniel P. and Hossain, Ayaan and Clauer, Phillip R. and Salis, Howard M.},
abstractNote = {Engineering cellular phenotypes often requires the regulation of many genes. When using CRISPR interference, co-expressing many single-guide RNAs (sgRNAs) triggers genetic instability and phenotype loss, due to the presence of repetitive DNA sequences. We stably co-expressed 22 sgRNAs within non-repetitive extra-long sgRNA arrays (ELSAs) to simultaneously repress up to 13 genes by up to 3500-fold. We apply biophysical modeling, biochemical characterization, and machine learning to develop toolboxes of non-repetitive genetic parts, including 28 sgRNA handles that bind Cas9. We design ELSAs by combining non-repetitive genetic parts according to algorithmic rules quantifying DNA synthesis complexity, sgRNA expression, sgRNA targeting, and genetic stability. Using ELSAs, we created three highly selective phenotypes in Escherichia coli, including redirecting metabolism to increase succinic acid production by 150-fold, knocking down amino acid biosynthesis to create a multi-auxotrophic strain, and repressing stress responses to reduce persister cell formation by 21-fold. ELSAs enable simultaneous and stable regulation of many genes for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology applications.},
doi = {10.1038/s41587-019-0286-9},
journal = {Nature Biotechnology},
number = 11,
volume = 37,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {10}
}
Web of Science
Works referenced in this record:
Structures of a CRISPR-Cas9 R-loop complex primed for DNA cleavage
journal, January 2016
- Jiang, F.; Taylor, D. W.; Chen, J. S.
- Science, Vol. 351, Issue 6275
Multi‐input CRISPR / C as genetic circuits that interface host regulatory networks
journal, November 2014
- Nielsen, Alec AK; Voigt, Christopher A.
- Molecular Systems Biology, Vol. 10, Issue 11
Structures of Cas9 Endonucleases Reveal RNA-Mediated Conformational Activation
journal, February 2014
- Jinek, M.; Jiang, F.; Taylor, D. W.
- Science, Vol. 343, Issue 6176
R2oDNA Designer: Computational Design of Biologically Neutral Synthetic DNA Sequences
journal, February 2014
- Casini, Arturo; Christodoulou, Georgia; Freemont, Paul S.
- ACS Synthetic Biology, Vol. 3, Issue 8
Encoded errors: mutations and rearrangements mediated by misalignment at repetitive DNA sequences: Replication slippage
journal, April 2004
- Lovett, Susan T.
- Molecular Microbiology, Vol. 52, Issue 5
A comparison of homologous recombination rates in bacteria and archaea
journal, October 2008
- Vos, Michiel; Didelot, Xavier
- The ISME Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 2
Combinatorial codon scrambling enables scalable gene synthesis and amplification of repetitive proteins
journal, January 2016
- Tang, Nicholas C.; Chilkoti, Ashutosh
- Nature Materials, Vol. 15, Issue 4
A well-conditioned estimator for large-dimensional covariance matrices
journal, February 2004
- Ledoit, Olivier; Wolf, Michael
- Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Vol. 88, Issue 2
Crystal Structure of Cas9 in Complex with Guide RNA and Target DNA
journal, February 2014
- Nishimasu, Hiroshi; Ran, F. Ann; Hsu, Patrick D.
- Cell, Vol. 156, Issue 5
Synthetic DNA Synthesis and Assembly: Putting the Synthetic in Synthetic Biology
journal, January 2017
- Hughes, Randall A.; Ellington, Andrew D.
- Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, Vol. 9, Issue 1
In vivo interrogation of gene function in the mammalian brain using CRISPR-Cas9
journal, October 2014
- Swiech, Lukasz; Heidenreich, Matthias; Banerjee, Abhishek
- Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 33, Issue 1
A Pressure Test to Make 10 Molecules in 90 Days: External Evaluation of Methods to Engineer Biology
journal, February 2018
- Casini, Arturo; Chang, Fang-Yuan; Eluere, Raissa
- Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 140, Issue 12
Beyond editing: repurposing CRISPR–Cas9 for precision genome regulation and interrogation
journal, December 2015
- Dominguez, Antonia A.; Lim, Wendell A.; Qi, Lei S.
- Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, Vol. 17, Issue 1
Orthologous CRISPR–Cas9 enzymes for combinatorial genetic screens
journal, December 2017
- Najm, Fadi J.; Strand, Christine; Donovan, Katherine F.
- Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 36, Issue 2
Guide RNA Functional Modules Direct Cas9 Activity and Orthogonality
journal, October 2014
- Briner, Alexandra E.; Donohoue, Paul D.; Gomaa, Ahmed A.
- Molecular Cell, Vol. 56, Issue 2
Programmable editing of a target base in genomic DNA without double-stranded DNA cleavage
journal, April 2016
- Komor, Alexis C.; Kim, Yongjoo B.; Packer, Michael S.
- Nature, Vol. 533, Issue 7603
Programming cells by multiplex genome engineering and accelerated evolution
journal, July 2009
- Wang, Harris H.; Isaacs, Farren J.; Carr, Peter A.
- Nature, Vol. 460, Issue 7257, p. 894-898
CRISPR/dCas9-Mediated Multiplex Gene Repression in Streptomyces
journal, July 2018
- Zhao, Yawei; Li, Lei; Zheng, Guosong
- Biotechnology Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 9
A conformational checkpoint between DNA binding and cleavage by CRISPR-Cas9
journal, August 2017
- Dagdas, Yavuz S.; Chen, Janice S.; Sternberg, Samuel H.
- Science Advances, Vol. 3, Issue 8
Trimmomatic: a flexible trimmer for Illumina sequence data
journal, April 2014
- Bolger, Anthony M.; Lohse, Marc; Usadel, Bjoern
- Bioinformatics, Vol. 30, Issue 15
CRISPR-guided DNA polymerases enable diversification of all nucleotides in a tunable window
journal, August 2018
- Halperin, Shakked O.; Tou, Connor J.; Wong, Eric B.
- Nature, Vol. 560, Issue 7717
Characterization of 582 natural and synthetic terminators and quantification of their design constraints
journal, June 2013
- Chen, Ying-Ja; Liu, Peng; Nielsen, Alec A. K.
- Nature Methods, Vol. 10, Issue 7
Genetic reconstruction of the aerobic central metabolism inEscherichia coli for the absolute aerobic production of succinate
journal, January 2004
- Lin, Henry; Bennett, George N.; San, Ka-Yiu
- Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 89, Issue 2
tCRISPRi: tunable and reversible, one-step control of gene expression
journal, December 2016
- Li, Xin-tian; Jun, Yonggun; Erickstad, Michael J.
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, Issue 1
ViennaRNA Package 2.0
journal, November 2011
- Lorenz, Ronny; Bernhart, Stephan H.; Höner zu Siederdissen, Christian
- Algorithms for Molecular Biology, Vol. 6, Issue 1
CRISPR-based methods for high-throughput annotation of regulatory DNA
journal, August 2018
- Klann, Tyler S.; Black, Joshua B.; Gersbach, Charles A.
- Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Vol. 52
A highly precise and portable genome engineering method allows comparison of mutational effects across bacterial species
journal, February 2016
- Nyerges, Ákos; Csörgő, Bálint; Nagy, István
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 113, Issue 9
Structural basis of PAM-dependent target DNA recognition by the Cas9 endonuclease
journal, July 2014
- Anders, Carolin; Niewoehner, Ole; Duerst, Alessia
- Nature, Vol. 513, Issue 7519
A decade of discovery: CRISPR functions and applications
journal, June 2017
- Barrangou, Rodolphe; Horvath, Philippe
- Nature Microbiology, Vol. 2, Issue 7
Rapid and Reliable DNA Assembly via Ligase Cycling Reaction
journal, September 2013
- Kok, Stefan de; Stanton, Leslie H.; Slaby, Todd
- ACS Synthetic Biology, Vol. 3, Issue 2
A Multiplexed Single-Cell CRISPR Screening Platform Enables Systematic Dissection of the Unfolded Protein Response
journal, December 2016
- Adamson, Britt; Norman, Thomas M.; Jost, Marco
- Cell, Vol. 167, Issue 7
CRISPR interference-guided multiplex repression of endogenous competing pathway genes for redirecting metabolic flux in Escherichia coli
journal, November 2017
- Kim, Seong Keun; Seong, Wonjae; Han, Gui Hwan
- Microbial Cell Factories, Vol. 16, Issue 1
Efficient search, mapping, and optimization of multi-protein genetic systems in diverse bacteria
journal, June 2014
- Farasat, I.; Kushwaha, M.; Collens, J.
- Molecular Systems Biology, Vol. 10, Issue 6, p. 731-731
Optimized sgRNA design to maximize activity and minimize off-target effects of CRISPR-Cas9
journal, January 2016
- Doench, John G.; Fusi, Nicolo; Sullender, Meagan
- Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 34, Issue 2
RegulonDB version 9.0: high-level integration of gene regulation, coexpression, motif clustering and beyond
journal, November 2015
- Gama-Castro, Socorro; Salgado, Heladia; Santos-Zavaleta, Alberto
- Nucleic Acids Research, Vol. 44, Issue D1
Multiple Gene Repression in Cyanobacteria Using CRISPRi
journal, December 2015
- Yao, Lun; Cengic, Ivana; Anfelt, Josefine
- ACS Synthetic Biology, Vol. 5, Issue 3
Homogeneous expression of the PBAD promoter in Escherichia coli by constitutive expression of the low-affinity high-capacity AraE transporter
journal, December 2001
- Keasling, Jay D.; Wanner, Barry L.; Skaug, Tove
- Microbiology, Vol. 147, Issue 12
The EcoCyc database: reflecting new knowledge about Escherichia coli K-12
journal, November 2016
- Keseler, Ingrid M.; Mackie, Amanda; Santos-Zavaleta, Alberto
- Nucleic Acids Research, Vol. 45, Issue D1
Methods and Applications of CRISPR-Mediated Base Editing in Eukaryotic Genomes
journal, October 2017
- Hess, Gaelen T.; Tycko, Josh; Yao, David
- Molecular Cell, Vol. 68, Issue 1
Variation in recombination frequency and distribution across eukaryotes: patterns and processes
journal, November 2017
- Stapley, Jessica; Feulner, Philine G. D.; Johnston, Susan E.
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 372, Issue 1736
Antisense transcription as a tool to tune gene expression
journal, January 2016
- Brophy, Jennifer AN; Voigt, Christopher A.
- Molecular Systems Biology, Vol. 12, Issue 1
Generation of chromosomal deletions in dicotyledonous plants employing a user-friendly genome editing toolkit
journal, November 2016
- Ordon, Jana; Gantner, Johannes; Kemna, Jan
- The Plant Journal, Vol. 89, Issue 1
A Biophysical Model of CRISPR/Cas9 Activity for Rational Design of Genome Editing and Gene Regulation
journal, January 2016
- Farasat, Iman; Salis, Howard M.
- PLOS Computational Biology, Vol. 12, Issue 1
Predicting the Genetic Stability of Engineered DNA Sequences with the EFM Calculator
journal, July 2015
- Jack, Benjamin R.; Leonard, Sean P.; Mishler, Dennis M.
- ACS Synthetic Biology, Vol. 4, Issue 8
Principles of genetic circuit design
journal, April 2014
- Brophy, Jennifer A. N.; Voigt, Christopher A.
- Nature Methods, Vol. 11, Issue 5
Enabling genetic analysis of diverse bacteria with Mobile-CRISPRi
journal, January 2019
- Peters, Jason M.; Koo, Byoung-Mo; Patino, Ramiro
- Nature Microbiology, Vol. 4, Issue 2
DNAplotlib: Programmable Visualization of Genetic Designs and Associated Data
journal, October 2016
- Der, Bryan S.; Glassey, Emerson; Bartley, Bryan A.
- ACS Synthetic Biology, Vol. 6, Issue 7
A Model for Resource Competition in CRISPR-Mediated Gene Repression
conference, December 2018
- Chen, Pin-Yi; Qian, Yili; Del Vecchio, Domitilla
- 2018 IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)
Works referencing / citing this record:
Reversed paired-gRNA plasmid cloning strategy for efficient genome editing in Escherichia coli
journal, March 2020
- Ding, Tingting; Huang, Chaoyong; Liang, Zeyu
- Microbial Cell Factories, Vol. 19, Issue 1