(623g) Invited Talk: Engineering Synthetic Compartments in Bacteria As Artificial Organelles

Protein de-mixing has been implicated in the organization of cellular components. These phase separated membraneless organelles create distinct environments that are essential to cellular processes ranging from stress response to development and metabolism. The formation of several membraneless organelles appears to be driven by electrostatic interactions between proteins and nucleic acids. To probe this hypothesis, we have engineered cationic proteins and cationic peptide sequences to promote the intracellular phase separation of proteins of interest with RNA in E. coli. Using varied peptide sequences, we have probed sequence-function-property relationships in order to predict the formation and biophysical properties of these engineered membraneless organelles in bacteria. We have probed the role of protein charge, charge distribution, charged functional groups, and sequence in the formation of these compartments. Here we will share our most recent understanding of the role of sequence in the creation and properties of phase separated organelles in living cells.