The First Minimal Synthetic Bacterial
Cell is Constructed
Photos
J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., Dr. Hamilton O. Smith, M.D., Dan Gibson, Ph.D., Lijie Sun, Ph.D., John Glass, Ph.D., Krishna Kannan, Ph.D., John Gill, and Dr. Clyde A. Hutchison III, Ph.D.
Credit: J. Craig Venter Institute
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J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. and Hamilton O. Smith, M.D.
Credit: J. Craig Venter Institute
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Hamilton O. Smith, M.D. and Clyde A. Hutchison III, Ph.D.
Credit: J. Craig Venter Institute
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Electron micrographs of clusters of JCVI-syn3.0 cells magnified about 15,000 times. This is the world’s first minimal bacterial cell. Its synthetic genome contains only 473 genes. Surprisingly, the functions of 149 of those genes are unknown.
Credit: Tom Deerinck and Mark Ellisman of the National Center for Imaging and Microscopy Research at the University of California at San Diego
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Fig. 7. Comparison of syn1.0 and syn3.0 growth features. (A) Cells derived from 0.2 µm–filtered liquid cultures were diluted and plated on agar medium to compare colony size and morphology after 96 hours (scale bars, 1.0 mm). (B) Growth rates in liquid static culture were determined using a fluorescent measure (relative fluorescent units, RFU) of double-stranded DNA accumulation over time (minutes) to calculate doubling times (td). Coefficients of determination (R2) are shown. (C) Native cell morphology in liquid culture was imaged in wet mount preparations by means of differential interference contrast microscopy (scale bars, 10 µm). Arrowheads indicate assorted forms of segmented filaments (white) or large vesicles (black). (D) Scanning electron microscopy of syn1.0 and syn3.0 (scale bars, 1 µm). The picture on the right shows a variety of the structures observed in syn3.0 cultures.
Credit: J. Craig Venter Institute
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Four design-build-test cycles produced JCVI-syn3.0. (A) The cycle for genome design, building by means of synthesis and cloning in yeast, and testing for viability by means of genome transplantation. After each cycle, gene essentiality is reevaluated by global transposon mutagenesis. (B) Comparison of JCVI-syn1.0 (outer blue circle) with JCVI-syn3.0 (inner red circle), showing the division of each into eight segments.The red bars inside the outer circle indicate regions that are retained in JCVI-syn3.0. (C) A clusterof JCVI-syn3.0 cells, showing spherical structures of varying sizes (scale bar, 200 nm).
Credit: J. Craig Venter Institute
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