Scheme of an ABC model system (A) and the dual containment system (B) to control survival of bacteria by varying the availability of 3MB. Pm, promoter for the meta pathway; lacI, repressor for the lac operon; xylS, positive regulator of Pm; asd, aspartate-β-semialdehyde dehydrogenase gene; PA1-O4/O3, modified promoter for the lac operon; gef, killing gene from E. coli.