Biosynthetic Olfactory System from Multiplexed Engineered Microbes (BOSMEM)
- 1Tufts University
Abstract
Whole-cell biosensors can detect many types of chemicals in complex environments, but existing designs force a tradeoff in multiplexed sensing: separating sensor strains into individual reservoirs limits how many analytes can be monitored at once, while pooling strains in open co-culture lets faster-growing strains take over within days, corrupting the signal. The microfluidic "mother machine" has been used for over a decade, mostly to study individual bacterial strains with single-cell resolution, but never to house multiple engineered strains simultaneously for sensing applications. We repurpose this device to hold a library of genetically distinct biosensor strains, physically isolating each strain in its own growth channel while continuous flow keeps every strain fed. Each strain reports on a target chemical through a unique combination of three fluorescent proteins, so seven distinguishable signals emerge from only three optical channels. We characterized turn-on and turn-off kinetics of several biosensors in the mother machine. Over a multi-day experiment with repeated chemical exposures, biosensors housed this way matched the expected on/off state and held stable population ratios, while biosensors in an open batch co-culture drifted and lost reliable signal. This establishes mother-machine-based multiplexing as a scalable route to long-term chemical monitoring with living sensors.
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BibTeX
@misc{tu2026biosynthetic,
title = {{Biosynthetic Olfactory System from Multiplexed Engineered Microbes (BOSMEM)}},
author = {H. X. Tu and S. Vanaei and B. Balasubramanian and P. Mundada and R. Deshpande and S. Kulkarni and I. Sahoo and N. Joshi},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.25.753839},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.25.753839v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Biosynthetic Olfactory System from Multiplexed Engineered Microbes (BOSMEM)
AU - H. X. Tu
AU - S. Vanaei
AU - B. Balasubramanian
AU - P. Mundada
AU - R. Deshpande
AU - S. Kulkarni
AU - I. Sahoo
AU - N. Joshi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.25.753839
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.25.753839v1
AB - Whole-cell biosensors can detect many types of chemicals in complex environments, but existing designs force a tradeoff in multiplexed sensing: separating sensor strains into individual reservoirs limits how many analytes can be monitored at once, while pooling strains in open co-culture lets faster-growing strains take over within days, corrupting the signal. The microfluidic "mother machine" has been used for over a decade, mostly to study individual bacterial strains with single-cell resolution, but never to house multiple engineered strains simultaneously for sensing applications. We repurpose this device to hold a library of genetically distinct biosensor strains, physically isolating each strain in its own growth channel while continuous flow keeps every strain fed. Each strain reports on a target chemical through a unique combination of three fluorescent proteins, so seven distinguishable signals emerge from only three optical channels. We characterized turn-on and turn-off kinetics of several biosensors in the mother machine. Over a multi-day experiment with repeated chemical exposures, biosensors housed this way matched the expected on/off state and held stable population ratios, while biosensors in an open batch co-culture drifted and lost reliable signal. This establishes mother-machine-based multiplexing as a scalable route to long-term chemical monitoring with living sensors.
ER -