Bacterial cellulose (BC) has excellent material properties and can be produced cheaply and sustainably through simple bacterial culture, but BC-producing bacteria lack the extensive genetic toolkits of model organisms such as Escherichia coli. Here, we describe a simple approach for producing highly programmable BC materials through incorporation of engineered E. coli. The acetic acid bacterium Gluconacetobacter hansenii was co-cultured with engineered E. coli in droplets of glucose-rich media to produce robust cellulose capsules, which were then colonized by the E. coli upon transfer to selective lysogeny broth media. We show that the encapsulated E. coli can produce engineered protein nanofibers within the cellulose matrix, yielding hybrid capsules capable of sequestering specific biomolecules from the environment and enzymatic catalysis. Furthermore, we produced capsules capable of altering their own bulk physical properties through enzyme-induced biomineralization. This novel system, based on autonomous biological fabrication, significantly expands the functionality of BC-based living materials.

中文翻译：

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工程菌自主生产的混合型生活胶囊

细菌纤维素（BC）具有出色的材料特性，可以通过简单的细菌培养廉价且可持续地生产，但是产生BC的细菌缺乏模型生物（如大肠杆菌）的广泛遗传工具包。在这里，我们描述了一种通过掺入工程化大肠杆菌生产高度可编程BC材料的简单方法。将乙酸细菌汉逊氏杆菌（Gluconacetobacter hansenii）与工程化大肠杆菌在富含葡萄糖的液滴中共培养，以产生坚固的纤维素胶囊，然后在转移到选择性溶菌性培养基中时被大肠杆菌定殖。我们表明，封装的大肠杆菌可以在纤维素基质内产生工程化的蛋白质纳米纤维，从而产生能够隔离环境和酶催化作用的特定生物分子的杂化胶囊。此外，我们生产了能够通过酶诱导的生物矿化作用改变其自身整体物理性能的胶囊。这种基于自主生物制造的新颖系统极大地扩展了基于BC的生物材料的功能。