Synthetic biology research and its industrial applications rely on the deterministic spatiotemporal control of gene expression. Recently, electrochemical control of gene expression has been demonstrated in electrogenetic systems (redox-responsive promoters used alongside redox inducers and an electrode), allowing for the direct integration of electronics with complex biological processes for a variety of new applications. However, the use of electrogenetic systems is limited by poor activity, tunability and standardisation. Here, we have developed a variety of genetic and electrochemical tools that facilitate the design and vastly improve the performance of electrogenetic systems. We developed a strong, unidirectional, redox-responsive promoter before deriving a mutant promoter library with a spectrum of strengths. We then constructed genetic circuits with these parts and demonstrated their activation by multiple classes of redox molecules. Finally, we demonstrated electrochemical activation of gene expression in aerobic conditions utilising a novel, modular bioelectrochemical device. This toolset provides researchers with all the elements needed to design and build optimised electrogenetic systems for specific applications.

中文翻译：

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用于电遗传学的模块化工具集

合成生物学研究及其工业应用依赖于基因表达的确定性时空控制。最近，基因表达的电化学控制已在电遗传系统（与氧化还原诱导剂和电极一起使用的氧化还原响应启动子）中得到证明，允许将电子设备与复杂的生物过程直接集成到各种新应用中。然而，电遗传系统的使用受到活性、可调性和标准化差的限制。在这里，我们开发了各种遗传和电化学工具，这些工具有助于设计并大大提高电遗传系统的性能。我们开发了一个强大的、单向的、氧化还原响应的启动子，然后推导出具有一系列强度的突变启动子库。然后，我们用这些部分构建了遗传回路，并证明了它们被多类氧化还原分子激活。最后，我们利用一种新型模块化生物电化学装置证明了在有氧条件下基因表达的电化学活化。该工具集为研究人员提供了为特定应用设计和构建优化的电遗传系统所需的所有元素。