synthetic.microbial.pattern.formation.modulated.by.
a.chemical.micro-interface.

the goal of this work is to develop a technique for generating spatial patterns of gene expression in an initially homogenous population of cells using a microfabricated chemical interface chip. the ability to create complex spatial patterns of gene expression, (ie. synthetic bacterial differentiation) will enable the fabrication of a new class of organic constructs built from co-operating cell populations in a manner analogous to differentiation schemes in developmental biology. the project consists of two complimentary efforts: the construction of a pH-sensitive cell-signaling pathway with a GFP reporter built into e. coli and a microsystem capable of "writing" patterns of pH levels with 10 micron resolution into a monolayer bacterial culture growing on solid media. using this proposed microfabricated chemical interface, we will demonstrate a) direct activation and inactivation of gene expression on the chip and b) a genetic turing reaction-diffusion system driven by the microchip.
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schematic of a pH sensitive cell-signaling pathway with a GFP reporter built into E.coli and a micro-interface system capable of "writing" patterns of pH levels with 10 micron resolution into a monolayer bacterial cell. the spatial pattern formation by gene expression is actively controlled by the micro-interface that modulates the degradation of AHL.
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