Tay, Pei Kun Richie RichieNguyen, PeterJoshi, Neel2017-11-152017Tay, Pei Kun R., Peter Q. Nguyen, and Neel S. Joshi. 2017. “A Synthetic Circuit for Mercury Bioremediation Using Self-Assembling Functional Amyloids.” ACS Synthetic Biology 6 (10) (August 2): 1841–1850. doi:10.1021/acssynbio.7b00137.2161-5063http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:34360744Synthetic biology approaches to bioremediation are a key sustainable strategy to leverage the self-replicating and programmable aspects of biology for environmental stewardship. The increasing spread of anthropogenic mercury pollution into our habitats and food chains is a pressing concern. Here, we explore the use of programmed bacterial biofilms to aid in the sequestration of mercury. We demonstrate that by integrating a mercury-responsive promoter and an operon encoding a mercury-absorbing self-assembling extracellular protein nanofiber, we can engineer bacteria that can detect and sequester toxic Hg2+ ions from the environment. This work paves the way for the development of on-demand biofilm living materials that can operate autonomously as heavy-metal absorbents.en-USbiofilm engineeringmercury sequestrationcurlibiosorptionprotein engineeringamyloidJournal Article2017-08-0220172017-11-1510.1021/acssynbio.7b00137