Harnessing Peroxisomes for Metabolic Engineering

Membrane-bound organelles have started to interest synthetic biologists as a convenient framework for scaffolding and compartmentalizing metabolic pathways. One such organelle, the peroxisome, offers ease of use and large capacity for protein import, but thorough investigation and characterization is required before the peroxisome can be repurposed as a "synthetic organelle."  We have examined both peroxisomal protein import and small metabolite permeability, developing novel in vivo assays to measure both aspects.  We have also applied these assays to develop improved peroxisomal targeting signals in a high-throughput manner.  Finally, we show how these enhanced tags can be used to sequester pathways and engineer an ideal synthetic organelle strain.