英国医学研究委员会分子生物学实验室Jason W. Chin课题组提出，程序化的染色体分裂和融合使精确的大规模基因组重排和装配成为可能。相关论文2019年8月30日发表在《科学》杂志上。

该研究组展示了大肠杆菌基因组的程序性裂变成不同的合成染色体对并将这些合成染色体进行程序化融合，以产生具有特定使用价值的倒位和易位基因组。 他们进一步将基因组裂变，染色体移植和染色体融合相结合，将来自不同菌株的基因组部分组装成单个基因组。因此，他们用精确核苷酸的基因组来编写的无缺陷的新基因组的组装，这是来自不同祖细胞的基因组统一合成过程中的关键步骤。这项工作提供了一套精确、快速、大规模（兆碱基）的基因组工程操作，用于合成多样化的合成基因组。

据悉，合成基因组的设计和合成为理解和设计生物学提供了强有力的方法。然而,它往往受到缺乏精确的基因操作方法的限制。

附：英文原文

Title: Programmed chromosome fission and fusion enable precise large-scale genome rearrangement and assembly

Author: Kaihang Wang, Daniel de la Torre, Wesley E. Robertson, Jason W. Chin

Issue&Volume: Volume 365 Issue 6456, 2019/08/30

Abstract: The design and creation of synthetic genomes provide a powerful approach to understanding and engineering biology. However, it is often limited by the paucity of methods for precise genome manipulation. Here, we demonstrate the programmed fission of the Escherichia coli genome into diverse pairs of synthetic chromosomes and the programmed fusion of synthetic chromosomes to generate genomes with user-defined inversions and translocations. We further combine genome fission, chromosome transplant, and chromosome fusion to assemble genomic regions from different strains into a single genome. Thus, we program the scarless assembly of new genomes with nucleotide precision, a key step in the convergent synthesis of genomes from diverse progenitors. This work provides a set of precise, rapid, large-scale (megabase) genome-engineering operations for creating diverse synthetic genomes.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aay0737

Source:https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6456/922