Bacterial signaling systems as platforms for rational design of new generations of biosensors

Bacterial signal-responsive regulatory circuits have been employed as platform to design and construct whole-cell bacterial biosensors for reporting toxicity. A new generation of biosensors with improved performance and a wide application range has emerged after the application of synthetic biology concepts to biosensor design. Site-directed mutagenesis, directed evolution and domain swapping were applied to upgrade signal detection or to create novel sensor modules. Rewiring of the genetic circuits allows improving the determinations and reduces the heterogeneity of the response between individual reporter cells. Moreover, the assembly of natural or engineered modules to biosensor platforms provides innovative outputs, expanding the range of application of these devises, from monitoring toxics and bioremediation to killing targeted cells.

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► We describe the use of synthetic biology concepts for bacterial biosensor design.
► Rewiring sensor/transducer modules provide improved bioreporter performance.
► Novel outputs can be embedded into existing regulatory circuits.
► Bioremediation, bioenergy and chemotherapy are future application trends.