Surveillance of microbial small talk using Trojan horses

Communication is an essential part of group behavior. Bacteria can communicate with one another using highly specific chemical signaling molecules as words. The advantage of having species-specific signals is that it prevents bacteria from being confused by noise; it allows them to keep their conversations private (i.e. within their own species) and modulate group behavior with tight specificity. However, such a high level of specificity could be exploited to identify and target bacteria in terms of microbial warfare. This project aims to engineer and characterize novel synthetic “Trojan horses” that can target bacteria based on species-specific communication signals. Key questions include how to intercept communication signals made by target bacteria to deliver target-specific toxins, and how to activate and control such a system with high specificity. This project can cause a paradigm shift in favor of using synthetic biology as part of future antimicrobial strategies.