Open DNA collection for building synthetic cells
The Nucleus DNA Distribution consists of open source genetic constructs that can be used to engineer synthetic cells. The collection is part of the open source Nucleus synthetic cell package, which also includes protocols and tools for synthetic cell engineering that we validate will work together.
Version 0.1.0 consists of a complete set of genetic constructs that can be used to make the PURE system, a promoter set to tune protein expression, a reporter set for reproducible measurement of synthetic cells, and a basic set of open MoClo components for gene assembly.
Version 0.2.0 introduces two (2) plasmids encoding an Emitter module, as well as more tools for synthetic cell building (e.g., reporters and MoClo parts).
This DNA distribution has been prepared under OpenMTA with Free Genes and the BioBricks Foundation.
Nucleus v0.1.0 Distribution Plate
The Nucleus v0.2.0 release did not include a new distribution plate.
Nucleus v0.3.0 Distribution Plate
The v0.2.0 distribution is broken into four categories: PURE, Measurement Reporters, Modules, and MoClo.
These genes encode the proteins making up the PURE cell-free expression system. You can use these plasmids to express and purify these proteins in order to make PURE (see PURE Protocols). We include 50 plasmids encoding 36 proteins used in PURE, plus some alternative variants of some of these proteins. The genes are under the control of the pT7-lacO promoter for protein production in E. coli T7 production strains (e.g., BL21(DE3) or NEB T7 Express). Each gene is tagged with either an N- or C-terminal 6xHistidine tag as in Shimizu et al. (2001).
The constructs have been substantially upgraded from their original designs, incorporating improvements in DNA design and protein expression techniques: