Developing synthetic auxin-based trans-kingdom signaling

Engineered Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 biosynthesizes tunable auxin signals with low leak and high dynamic range that drive auxin-responsive gene expression in other kingdoms.

• Why it matters: Existing trans-kingdom systems are limited by toxic signals, rare precursors, or transduction components that are species-specific or hard to tune, restricting broad use as a model.
• What they did: The authors engineered auxin biosynthesis in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 and connected auxin to tunable synthetic auxin-responsive signaling modules in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Arabidopsis thaliana.
• The result: Auxin from co-cultured Synechococcus elongatus tunes Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene expression via auxin-induced degradation, and auxin produced near Arabidopsis thaliana roots controls plant gene expression through auxin-responsive synthetic transcription factors.

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