Living material assembly of bacteriogenic protocells

Abstract Advancing the spontaneous bottom-up construction of artificial cells with high organisational complexity and diverse functionality remains an unresolved issue at the interface between living and non-living matter. To address this challenge, a living material assembly process based on the capture and on-site processing of spatially segregated bacterial colonies within individual coacervate micro-droplets is developed for the endogenous construction of membrane-bounded, molecularly crowded, compositionally, structurally and morphologically complex synthetic cells. The bacteriogenic protocells inherit diverse biological components, exhibit multi-functional cytomimetic properties and can be endogenously remodelled to include a spatially partitioned DNA/histone nucleus-like condensate, membranized water vacuoles and a self-supporting 3D network of F-actin proto-cytoskeletal filaments. The ensemble is biochemically energized by self-sustainable ATP production derived from implanted live E. coli cells to produce a cellular bionic system with amoeba-like external morphology and integrated life-like properties. Our results demonstrate a novel bacteriogenic strategy for the bottom-up construction of functional protoliving micro-devices and provide opportunities for the fabrication of new synthetic cell modules and augmented living/synthetic cell constructs with potential applications in engineered synthetic biology and biotechnology.