英国帝国理工学院Tom Ellis研究组利用表达酪氨酸酶的纤维素（BC）生产细菌制备自着色纺织品。相关论文于2024年4月2日发表在《自然-生物技术》杂志上。

为了解决微生物来源纺织品染色的难题，研究人员对Komagataeibacter rhaeticus进行了基因工程改造，培育出一种能生长自着色BC的细菌菌株。这种细菌通过表达重组酪氨酸酶进行黑色素的生物合成，从而获得深黑色的色素，以满足材料使用的需要。黑色萃取物的生产可以扩大规模以用于制造原型时尚产品。

研究人员通过对纤维素生产细菌中的基因表达进行光遗传模式化，证明了将工程自着色与合成生物学工具相结合的潜力。通过这项研究，研究人员证明了将基因工程与当前和未来纺织品生物制造方法相结合的可行性，这可能会创造出一类新的纺织品。

研究人员表示，对环境的关注推动了人们对利用微生物和真菌生产非石油合成纺织品的兴趣。细菌纤维素因具有材料特性、基础设施需求低和可生物降解特性，是一种很有前景的可持续皮革替代品。然而，要使BC等替代纺织品完全实现可持续生产，在开发替代生产方法的同时还需要开发纺织品染色的替代方法。

附：英文原文

Title: Self-pigmenting textiles grown from cellulose-producing bacteria with engineered tyrosinase expression

Author: Walker, Kenneth T., Li, Ivy S., Keane, Jennifer, Goosens, Vivianne J., Song, Wenzhe, Lee, Koon-Yang, Ellis, Tom

Issue&Volume: 2024-04-02

Abstract: Environmental concerns are driving interest in postpetroleum synthetic textiles produced from microbial and fungal sources. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a promising sustainable leather alternative, on account of its material properties, low infrastructure needs and biodegradability. However, for alternative textiles like BC to be fully sustainable, alternative ways to dye textiles need to be developed alongside alternative production methods. To address this, we genetically engineer Komagataeibacter rhaeticus to create a bacterial strain that grows self-pigmenting BC. Melanin biosynthesis in the bacteria from recombinant tyrosinase expression achieves dark black coloration robust to material use. Melanated BC production can be scaled up for the construction of prototype fashion products, and we illustrate the potential of combining engineered self-pigmentation with tools from synthetic biology, through the optogenetic patterning of gene expression in cellulose-producing bacteria. With this study, we demonstrate that combining genetic engineering with current and future methods of textile biofabrication has the potential to create a new class of textiles.

DOI: 10.1038/s41587-024-02194-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-024-02194-3