Two new plasmid post-segregational killing mechanisms for the implementation of synthetic gene networks in E. coli

Abstract

Plasmids are the workhorse of both industrial biotechnology and synthetic biology, but ensuring they remain in bacterial cells is a challenge. Antibiotic selection, commonly used in the laboratory, cannot be used to stabilise plasmids in most real-world applications, and inserting dynamical gene networks into the genome is difficult. Plasmids have evolved several mechanisms for stability, one of which, post-segregational killing (PSK), ensures that plasmid-free cells do not grow or survive. Here we demonstrate the plasmid-stabilising capabilities of the axe/txe two component system and the microcin-V system in the probiotic bacteria Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 and show they can outperform the hok/sok system commonly used in biotechnological applications. Using plasmid stability assays, automated flow cytometry analysis, mathematical models and Bayesian statistics we quantified plasmid stability in vitro. Further, we used an in vivo mouse cancer model to demonstrate plasmid stability in a real-world therapeutic setting. These new PSK systems, plus the developed Bayesian methodology, will have wide applicability in clinical and industrial biotechnology.