Coupling environmental biosensors to inverter circuits in soil bacteria

In two soil bacteria, coupling four environmental biosensors (iron, oxygen, temperature, light) to three repressor-based NOT gates yields non-additive, host-dependent circuit behavior that deviates from predictions.

• Why it matters: Genetic logic gates are usually optimized for lab-standard inputs, limiting real-world use where engineered cells face complex, niche-specific signals and regulatory context.
• What they did: They built 12 composite sensor–gate circuits by coupling four ecologically relevant biosensors to NOT logic gates QacR, SrpR, and LitR, then benchmarked them in Pseudomonas putida KT2440 and Pseudomonas protegens Pf-5.
• The result: Standalone biosensors detected their cognate inputs, but concatenating across regulatory junctions produced non-linearities, emergent dynamics, and unexpected deviations; P. protegens Pf-5 processed circuits better overall, while some iron-responsive configurations performed better in P. putida KT2440.

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