Introduction Lance Martin, BIOFAB Operations
Several capacities needed to support EOU engineering Design Libraries Feature 1 Variants Feature 2 Variants Assemble Clone Assay Analyze Feature 1 Feature 2 Repeat
Core capacities map onto workflow Design Assemble Clone Assay and Analyze Data
Design : EOU assembly strategy Part < 250 bases NO SLIC Gibson CPEC / GG / Bio-Brick CPEC / GG / Bio-brick (No SLIC / Gibson) If (combinatorial library) && (junctions < 25 bp) NO CPEC / GG / Bio-Brick GG / Bio-Brick (No CPEC) Want scar flexibility and multipart cloning? NO Bio-Brick / GG Promoter RBS Golden gate (GG) NO (our parts were too long to order as oligo with BsaI sites) 1) Cost effective Embed in primers? Promoter NO (our parts were too long) Primer + Bsa! sites adds > 40 bases Order oligos, clone, PCR amplify full part NO (too short) Parts often too small for PCR 2) Scarless assembly 3) One-plot multi-insert cloning Anneal and clone oligos with compatible junctions 4) Good for combinatorial libraries Nathan Hillso (JBEI)
Design : strategy for scarless combinatorial assembly Promoter Ins 5ʻUTR PCR GGTCTCAATGA CCAGAGTTACT 5ʻUTR Ins CTATTGAGACC ATAGACTCTGG BsaI Digest 5ʻUTR Ins Promoter Library (N) Ins 5ʻUTR x N
Design : developed software tools to automate design tasks Feature Library 1 ) Automated and batch oligo and junction design Oligo Library Vector Library 2 ) Simulate PCR, digest, junction verification, ligation 5ʻUTR Ins Ins 3 ) Batch vector map output 5ʻUTR x N Wes Whitaker (UCB), Jenhan Tao (UCB)
Design and Cloning : integrated software into workflow Vector file 14 Promoter & 12 RBS Sequences 1. Automate design of 52 (fwd and rev) oligo sequences with specified junctions 2. Automate junction checking for 168 planned assemblies and generation of all vector files Vector Design Assembly OK? If NO, Re-plan Order Oligos Base Vector Anneal Cut Ligate + Clones 3. Automate check of hundreds of sequencing traces against user-specified vector files Sequence? Pick Transform, Plate
Assay and Analysis : plate reader, cytometer, HTG Analysis
Protocols in operations manual, packaging all software. Plan to make these tools and methods available.
Current Future Manual cloning workflow with some robotic automation More automated cloning workflow
Future : High-throughput oligo (or full library) synthesis with automated oligo preparation (phosphorylation / annealing)
Future : Automated combinatorial fluid handling (e.g., for ligation of combinatorial library into PCR product) Oligo Library Library Vector 5ʻUTR Ins
Future : Accelerate cloning (e.g., next-gen sequencing and ufluidics to screen and cherry-pick from complex ligation mix?)
Current Future Modest feature library sizes with no functional pre-screening Highly multiplexed in vitro screening of large feature libraries prior to in vivo characterization
Future : In vitro systems for screening components 1) In vitro transcription / translation (P. Carr, D. Kong) 2) Characterization of sequence features (e.g., bar-seq for multiplexed expression readout for library of thousands of features)
Current Future Feature libraries for constitutive expression Libraries of sensor features
Future : Expanding scope of EOU to include inducible promoters and post-transcriptional controllers Libraries of orthogonal post-transcriptional (5ʼ UTR) controllers Riboregulator w/ tarna repression Aptamer + trans-active riboregulator shrna libraries (in microbes) Characterized Libraries Aptamer + ribozyme Aptamer + ribozyme for signal integration
Future : In vitro measurement of component bio-physical parameters to aid the design of new regulatory features Tools for measuring protein (e.g., transcription factor) and DNA interactions ; may be used to aid functional characterization of new transcription factors
Current Future Conventional cloning (e.g., Top10)and assay strains (BW25113) Engineered chassis
Future : Engineering host cell context in order to improve predictable function of EOU Genome engineering and / or deploying orthogonal gene expression architecture (e.g., a virtual machine) in order to improve predictable performance of the EOU
Current Future 96 well plate ; plate reader and flow cytometer Chemostat for multiplexed assays and addressable environmental control ; methods for transcript quantification
Future : Measurement context with environmental control (e.g., for characterization of transfer function for EOU)
Future : Measurement tools for transcript quantification (e.g., HTG, ncounter, qpcr, Fluidigm parallelized qpcr, etc.) Systems for high-throughput transcript quantification (e.g. qpcr)