2025/01/14 by Ana María Restrepo Sierra, F Gomez, Mats van Tongeren +2 · 1 voice · 6 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
paper · doi:10.1101/2025.01.14.632951
Abstract The emergence, organization, and persistence of cellular life are the result of the functional integration of metabolic and genetic networks. Here, we engineer phospholipid vesicles that can operate three essential functions, namely transcription-translation of a partial genome, self-replication of this DNA program, and membrane synthesis. The synthetic genome encodes six proteins and its compartmentalized expression produces active liposomes with distinct phenotypes demonstrating successful module integration. Our results reveal that genetic factors exert a stronger control over DNA replication and membrane synthesis than metabolic crosstalk or module co-activity. By showing how genetically encoded functions derived from different species can be integrated in liposome compartments, our work opens new avenues for the construction of autonomous and evolving synthetic cells.