Bioelectronic control of a microbial community using surface-assembled electrogenetic cells to route signals

Living electrodes enable signalling into a microbial community, coordinating behaviour. We developed a bioelectronic communication system that is enabled by a redox signal transduction modality to exchange information between a living cell-embedded bioelectronics interface and an engineered microbial network. A naturally communicating three-member microbial network is 'plugged into' an external electronic system that interrogates and controls biological function in real time. First, electrode-generated redox molecules are programmed to activate gene expression in an engineered population of electrode-attached bacterial cells, effectively creating a living transducer electrode. These cells interpret and translate electronic signals and then transmit this information biologically by producing quorum sensing molecules that are, in turn, interpreted by a planktonic coculture. The propagated molecular communication drives expression and secretion of a therapeutic peptide from one strain and simultaneously enables direct electronic feedback from the second strain, thus enabling real-time electronic verification of biological signal propagation. Overall, we show how this multifunctional bioelectronic platform, termed a BioLAN, reliably facilitates on-demand bioelectronic communication and concurrently performs programmed tasks.

Automated summary

Living electrodes facilitate signaling within microbial communities, coordinating behavior. This study developed a bioelectronic communication system that allows exchange of information between living cells and an engineered microbial network, enabling real-time control and feedback. The system demonstrates how molecular communication can be propagated to drive biological signal propagation and programmed tasks concurrently.