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Distributed implementation of the genetic double-branch structure in Escherichia coli

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  • Computer Science & Technology
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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Because of the simplicity of cells, the key to building biological computing systems may lie in constructing distributed systems based on cell–cell communication. Guided by a mathematical model, in this study we designed, simulated, and constructed a genetic double-branch structure in the bacterium Escherichia coli. This genetic double-branch structure is composed of a control cell and two reporter cells. The control cell can activate different reporter cells according to the input. Two quorum-sensing signal molecules, 3OC12-HSL and C4-HSL, form the wires between the control cell and the reporter cells. This study is a step toward scalable biological computation, and it may have many potential applications in biocomputing, biosensing, and biotherapy.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2013CB329601 and 2013CB329602), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61127005, 60974112, 30970960, 60910002, 60971085, and 61100055).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of High Confidence Software Technologies of Ministry of Education, School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Mei Chen, Lu Zhang & Jin Xu

  2. School of Information Engineering, Minzu University of China, Beijing, 100081, China

    Mei Chen

Authors
  1. Mei Chen
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  2. Lu Zhang
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  3. Jin Xu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mei Chen.

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Chen, M., Zhang, L. & Xu, J. Distributed implementation of the genetic double-branch structure in Escherichia coli . Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 4625–4630 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0516-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0516-y

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