In an NSF-BBSRC funded collaboration we have proposed to make a novel synthetic N2-fixing organelle, a ‘nitroplast’. Our concept is to introduce N2 fixation into plants based on the cyanobacterial model in which solar energy contributes more directly to the energy needs of N2 fixation. Crop plants require fixed nitrogen (N2) for optimal yields, so it would be desirable for plants to fix their own N2 although numerous challenges remain. My group has attempted to develop and use synthetic biology to engineer N2 fixation into a non-nitrogen fixing cyanobacterium of choice. The tools available in the cyanobacterial community are limited and have been a major bottleneck, so we have spent effort to build such resources [30935196, 30087668]. Ideally this may develop into a funded program involving the larger cyanobacterial community.

Select Publications

Jin, H., Lindblad, P., & Bhaya, D. (2019). Building an inducible T7 RNA polymerase/T7 promoter circuit in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. ACS synthetic biology, 8(4), 655-660. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.8b00515

Jin, H., Wang, Y., Idoine, A., & Bhaya, D. (2018). Construction of a shuttle vector using an endogenous plasmid from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. Frontiers in microbiology, 9, 1662. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01662

Silas, S., Mohr, G., Sidote, D. J., Markham, L. M., Sanchez-Amat, A., Bhaya, D., Lambowitz, A. M., & Fire, A. Z. (2016). DIRECT CRISPR spacer acquisition from RNA by a natural reverse transcriptase–CAS1 fusion protein. Science, 351(6276). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad4234

Davison, M., & Bhaya, D. (2015). Creation and Analysis of a Virome: Using CRISPR Spacers. In CRISPR (pp. 307-316). Humana Press, New York, NY. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2687-9_20

Chau, R. M. W., Bhaya, D., & Huang, K. (2014). Motility Enhancement through Surface Modification is Sufficient for Emergent Behaviors During Phototaxis. Biophysical Journal, 106(2), 578a. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003205

Hall, E., Kim, S., Davis, M., Wei, H., Bhaya, D., & Zare, R. N. (2010). Amplification & Analysis of the Synechococcus Os-B'Crispr Region from Single Cells. Biophysical Journal, 98(3), 406a.