Reprogramming bacteria to seek and destroy an herbicide

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Abstract
Synthetic biology enables the reprogramming of cells for useful applications. RNA selection approaches yielded an atrazine-binding riboswitch that was used to engineer Escherichia coli that migrate toward and catabolize this common herbicide. A major goal of synthetic biology is to reprogram cells to perform complex tasks. Here we show how a combination of in vitro and in vivo selection rapidly identifies a synthetic riboswitch that activates protein translation in response to the herbicide atrazine. We further demonstrate that this riboswitch can reprogram bacteria to migrate in the presence of atrazine. Finally, we show that incorporating a gene from an atrazine catabolic pathway allows these cells to seek and destroy atrazine.