Chromatophores efficiently promote light-driven ATP synthesis and DNA transcription inside hybrid multicompartment artificial cells
Emiliano Altamura, Paola Albanese, Roberto Marotta, Francesco Milano, Michele Fiore, Massimo Trotta, Pasquale Stano, Fabio Mavelli
Abstract
Significance Chromatophores are closed vesicles extracted from photosynthetic bacteria that efficiently perform the photophosphorylation reaction (ADP + Pi → ATP) under illumination. Here we show that, when entrapped inside giant lipid vesicles, they behave as nano-biophotosynthetic organellae, allowing the construction of energetically autonomous artificial protocells. As proof of concept, DNA has been transcribed within an artificial protocell, thanks to the continuous ATP photo-production from chromatophores. Such a hybrid multicompartment approach will speed up the current efforts of constructing cell-like systems of increasing complexity, allowing the implementation of several ATP-dependent processes. Developed at the interface between synthetic biology and systems chemistry, the science of artificial protocells promises unprecedented biotechnological applications, as well as unveiling still unsolved origins-of-life questions.