Environmental concerns are driving interest in postpetroleum synthetic textiles produced from microbial and fungal sources. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a promising sustainable leather alternative, on account of its material properties, low infrastructure needs and biodegradability. However, for alternative textiles like BC to be fully sustainable, alternative ways to dye textiles need to be developed alongside alternative production methods. To address this, we genetically engineer Komagataeibacter rhaeticus to create a bacterial strain that grows self-pigmenting BC. Melanin biosynthesis in the bacteria from recombinant tyrosinase expression achieves dark black coloration robust to material use. Melanated BC production can be scaled up for the construction of prototype fashion products, and we illustrate the potential of combining engineered self-pigmentation with tools from synthetic biology, through the optogenetic patterning of gene expression in cellulose-producing bacteria. With this study, we demonstrate that combining genetic engineering with current and future methods of textile biofabrication has the potential to create a new class of textiles.

环境问题正在推动人们对由微生物和真菌来源生产的石油后合成纺织品产生兴趣。细菌纤维素 (BC) 因其材料特性、基础设施需求低和生物可降解性而成为一种有前景的可持续皮革替代品。然而，为了使像 BC 这样的替代纺织品完全可持续，需要与替代生产方法一起开发替代的纺织品染色方法。为了解决这个问题，我们对Komagataeibacter rheeticus进行了基因改造，创造出一种能够生长自我着色 BC 的细菌菌株。重组酪氨酸酶表达的细菌中的黑色素生物合成实现了对材料使用稳定的深黑色着色。黑色素纤维素的生产可以扩大规模，用于构建原型时尚产品，并且我们通过纤维素生产细菌中基因表达的光遗传学模式，展示了将工程自色素沉着与合成生物学工具相结合的潜力。通过这项研究，我们证明将基因工程与当前和未来的纺织品生物制造方法相结合有可能创造出新型纺织品。