Engineering intercellular communication using M13 phagemid and CRISPR-based gene regulation for multicellular computing in Escherichia coli

Hadiastri Kusumawardhani (), Florian Zoppi, Roberto Avendaño and Yolanda Schaerli ()
Additional contact information
Hadiastri Kusumawardhani: University of Lausanne
Florian Zoppi: University of Lausanne
Roberto Avendaño: University of Lausanne
Yolanda Schaerli: University of Lausanne

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Engineering multicellular consortia, where information processing is distributed across specialized cell types, offers a promising strategy for implementing sophisticated biocomputing systems. However, a major challenge remains in establishing orthogonal intercellular communication, or “wires,” within synthetic bacterial consortia. In this study, we address this bottleneck by integrating phagemid-mediated intercellular communication with CRISPR-based gene regulation for multicellular computing in synthetic E. coli consortia. We achieve intercellular communication with high sensitivity by regulating the transfer of single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) encoded on M13 phagemids from sender to receiver cells. Once inside the receiver cells, the transferred sgRNAs mediate gene regulation via CRISPR interference. Leveraging this approach, we successfully constructed one-, two-, and four-input logic gates. Our work expands the toolkit for intercellular communication and paves the way for complex information processing in synthetic microbial consortia, with diverse potential applications, including biocomputing, biosensing, and biomanufacturing.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58760-z Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58760-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58760-z

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().