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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 May 21.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Cell. 2020 May 21;78(4):614–623. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.03.034

Table 3.

Containment systems designed to prevent escape of transgenic microbes.

Year Lead Author Species Auxotrophy Essential gene Toxic gene Responds to Survival ratio Stability Used in
1987 S. Molin E. coli hok tryptophan 10−4 not tested con
1988 A.K. Bej E. coli hok IPTG <10−6 not tested con
1991 A. Contreras E. coli gef benzoates 10−6 not tested un
1991 S.M. Knudsen E. coli relF IPTG 10−8 not tested con
1992 A.K. Bej P. putida gef IPTG 10−5 not tested con
1993 G. Recorbet E. coli sacB sucrose 10−3 not tested con
1994 I. Ahrenholtz E. coli nucA temp. (cI857) 10−5 not tested un
1995 SM. Knudsen E. coli relE IPTG 10−7 not tested con
1996 MT. Munthali P. putida colE3 3-methyl benzoate N/A not tested un
1997 P. Szafranski P. putida streptavidin 3-methyl benzoate 10−7 not tested un
1998 L. Molina P. putida gef 3-methyl benzoate 10−8 not tested un
2000 P. Kristoffersen S. cerevisiae relE galactose N/A not tested con
2001 MC. Ronchel P. putida gef 3-methyl benzoate <10−9 not tested un
2003 L. Steidler L. lactis thymidine thymidine 10−7 not tested un
2005 A. Balan S. cerevisiae nucA glucose 10−5 not tested con
2008 W. Kong S. typhimurium asdA, murA arabinose 10−4 not tested con
2009 Q. Li E. coli nucA arabinose N/A not tested con
2010 JM. Callura E. coli ccdB/λ lysis/lexA3 aTc, arabinose, IPTG 10−3 not tested con
2015 CTY. Chan E. coli murC ecoRI aTc, IPTG <10−5 Unstable after four days con
2015 CTY. Chan E. coli murC ecoR1 IPTG, gal, cellobiose <10−8 Unstable after four days, con
2015 RR. Gallagher E. coli Biotin ribA, glmS ecoRI aTc, IPTG <10−12 stable for >110 gen. con
2015 Y. Cai S. cerevisiae HHTS, HHFS galactose, estradiol <10−10 not tested con
2015 DJ. Mandel E. coli bipA bipA <10−11 not tested con
2015 AJ. Rovner E. coli pAcF α pAcF α, arabinose <10−11 not tested con
2015 G. Lopez E. coli benzothazole benzothiazole 10−7 not tested con
2016 DI. piraner E. coli ccdB temp. 10−5 not tested un
2016 S. Huang E. coli blaM, cat1 cell density 10−5 not tested con
2016 R. Hirota E. coli Phosphite phosphite <10−12 not tested con
2017 N. Agmon S. cerevisiae SEC17 estradiol 10−8 not tested con
2017 F. Stirling E. coli ccdB temp. 10−5 Stable for >140 gen. un
2017 F. Stirling E. coli ccdB cI and/or Cro N/A Stable for >140 gen. un
2018 RL. Clark S. sp. PCC7002 CO2 CO2 10−9 not tested con
2019 F. Stirling E. coli doc pH 10−6 Stable for >100 gen. un
2019 F. Stirling E. coli ccdB/doc temp., pH <10−11 Stable for >100 gen. un
2019 F. Stirling E. coli doc pH2 10−4 not tested un

Strains: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactococcus lactis, Salmonella typhimurium, Synechococcus sp. PCC7002. Each row represents a single containment system in a single strain. For “Used in” column, con/un refers to controlled or uncontrolled environment.

1

These genes are essential in the presence of the antibiotics carbenicillin and chloramphenicol.

2

This containment system only expresses the toxin upon two, non-consecutive exposures to low pH.