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Synthetic Biological Approaches for Optogenetics and Tools for Transcriptional Light‐Control in Bacteria
Author(s) -
Baumschlager Armin,
Khammash Mustafa
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2701-0198
DOI - 10.1002/adbi.202000256
Subject(s) - optogenetics , synthetic biology , biological organism , computer science , focus (optics) , organism , transcription (linguistics) , computational biology , biology , neuroscience , biological system , genetics , physics , biological materials , linguistics , philosophy , optics
Light has become established as a tool not only to visualize and investigate but also to steer biological systems. This review starts by discussing the unique features that make light such an effective control input in biology. It then gives an overview of how light‐control came to progress, starting with photoactivatable compounds and leading up to current genetic implementations using optogenetic approaches. The review then zooms in on optogenetics, focusing on photosensitive proteins, which form the basis for optogenetic engineering using synthetic biological approaches. As the regulation of transcription provides a highly versatile means for steering diverse biological functions, the focus of this review then shifts to transcriptional light regulators, which are presented in the biotechnologically highly relevant model organism Escherichia coli .