Reconstruction of a chromatic response system in Escherichia coli

Abstract

Two-component signal transduction systems (TCS) are involved in widespread cellular responses to diverse signals from bacteria to plants. Cyanobacteria have evolved photoperception systems for efficient photosynthesis, and some histidine kinases are known to function as photosensors. In this study, we attempt to reconstruct the photoperception system in Escherichia coli to make an easily controllable ON/OFF switch for gene expressions. For this purpose, a CcaS-CcaR two-component system from Nostoc punctiforme was expressed with phycocyanobilin (PCB) producing enzymes in E. coli which carries a G-box-controlled reporter gene. We succeeded to endow E. coli with a gene activation switch that is regulated in a lightcolor dependent manner. The possibility of such a switch for the development of synthetic biology is pointed out.