Part:BBa_K3606027

cold triggered RelE/RelB Kill Switch

This composite part is a cold triggered kill switch to deprive of survivability of engineered bacteria in the environment when excreted from the intestine. It consists of a RelE/RelB toxin/antitoxin module and an RNA thermometer NoChill-06 to regulate it.

The antitoxin RelB is liable and expressed at a relatively high level. The RelE toxin is constitutively co-expressed with the antitoxin under the control of an RNA thermometer No-Chill 06. Under the body temperature (37℃)，No-Chill 06 unfolds and exposes its ribosome binding site (RBS) to express. RelE and RelB neutralize each other by protein-protein interaction and form a stable complexity. When the bacteria encounter a cold shock(30℃), RelB is degraded rapidly by an ATP-dependent serine protease Lon and releases RelE. The toxin RelE acts as a global translational inhibitor to cleave mRNAs under translating at the ribosomal A site, therefore resulting in cell growth arrest and finally cell death