A new flavor of synthetic yeast communities sees the light
ABSTRACT No organism is an island: organisms of varying taxonomic complexity, including genetic variants of a single species, can coexist in particular niches, cooperating for survival while simultaneously competing for environmental resources. In recent years, synthetic biology strategies have witn...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2025-03-01
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| Series: | mBio |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.02008-23 |
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| author | Vicente Rojas Daniela Rivera Carlos Ruiz Luis F. Larrondo |
| author_facet | Vicente Rojas Daniela Rivera Carlos Ruiz Luis F. Larrondo |
| author_sort | Vicente Rojas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT No organism is an island: organisms of varying taxonomic complexity, including genetic variants of a single species, can coexist in particular niches, cooperating for survival while simultaneously competing for environmental resources. In recent years, synthetic biology strategies have witnessed a surge of efforts focused on creating artificial microbial communities to tackle pressing questions about the complexity of natural systems and the interactions that underpin them. These engineered ecosystems depend on the number and nature of their members, allowing complex cell communication designs to recreate and create diverse interactions of interest. Due to its experimental simplicity, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been harnessed to establish a mixture of varied cell populations with the potential to explore synthetic ecology, metabolic bioprocessing, biosensing, and pattern formation. Indeed, engineered yeast communities enable advanced molecule detection dynamics and logic operations. Here, we present a concise overview of the state-of-the-art, highlighting examples that exploit optogenetics to manipulate, through light stimulation, key yeast phenotypes at the community level, with unprecedented spatial and temporal regulation. Hence, we envision a bright future where the application of optogenetic approaches in synthetic communities (optoecology) illuminates the intricate dynamics of complex ecosystems and drives innovations in metabolic engineering strategies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e325d6f716da44d7b53d4a7c0cc7b59b |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2150-7511 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | mBio |
| spelling | doaj-art-e325d6f716da44d7b53d4a7c0cc7b59b2025-08-20T02:52:35ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologymBio2150-75112025-03-0116310.1128/mbio.02008-23A new flavor of synthetic yeast communities sees the lightVicente Rojas0Daniela Rivera1Carlos Ruiz2Luis F. Larrondo3ANID-Millennium Science Initiative Program—Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago, ChileANID-Millennium Science Initiative Program—Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago, ChileANID-Millennium Science Initiative Program—Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago, ChileANID-Millennium Science Initiative Program—Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago, ChileABSTRACT No organism is an island: organisms of varying taxonomic complexity, including genetic variants of a single species, can coexist in particular niches, cooperating for survival while simultaneously competing for environmental resources. In recent years, synthetic biology strategies have witnessed a surge of efforts focused on creating artificial microbial communities to tackle pressing questions about the complexity of natural systems and the interactions that underpin them. These engineered ecosystems depend on the number and nature of their members, allowing complex cell communication designs to recreate and create diverse interactions of interest. Due to its experimental simplicity, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been harnessed to establish a mixture of varied cell populations with the potential to explore synthetic ecology, metabolic bioprocessing, biosensing, and pattern formation. Indeed, engineered yeast communities enable advanced molecule detection dynamics and logic operations. Here, we present a concise overview of the state-of-the-art, highlighting examples that exploit optogenetics to manipulate, through light stimulation, key yeast phenotypes at the community level, with unprecedented spatial and temporal regulation. Hence, we envision a bright future where the application of optogenetic approaches in synthetic communities (optoecology) illuminates the intricate dynamics of complex ecosystems and drives innovations in metabolic engineering strategies.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.02008-23yeastsynthetic ecologyoptogeneticsoptoecologysynthetic biologySaccharomyces cerevisiae |
| spellingShingle | Vicente Rojas Daniela Rivera Carlos Ruiz Luis F. Larrondo A new flavor of synthetic yeast communities sees the light mBio yeast synthetic ecology optogenetics optoecology synthetic biology Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
| title | A new flavor of synthetic yeast communities sees the light |
| title_full | A new flavor of synthetic yeast communities sees the light |
| title_fullStr | A new flavor of synthetic yeast communities sees the light |
| title_full_unstemmed | A new flavor of synthetic yeast communities sees the light |
| title_short | A new flavor of synthetic yeast communities sees the light |
| title_sort | new flavor of synthetic yeast communities sees the light |
| topic | yeast synthetic ecology optogenetics optoecology synthetic biology Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.02008-23 |
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