Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.07.20.212191v1?rss=1 Authors: Ahmad, R., Kleineberg, C., Su, Y. J., Goli Pozveh, S., Bae, A. J., Bodenschatz, E., Sundmacher, K., Vidakovich-Koch, T., Gholami, A. Abstract: Artificial systems capable of self-sustained directed movement are of high interest with respect to development of many challenging applications including medical treatments but also technical applications. The bottom-up assembly of such systems in the context of synthetic biology is still a challenging task. Here, we demonstrate the biocompatibility and efficiency of an artificial light-driven energy module and a motility functional unit by integrating light-switchable photosynthetic vesicles with demembranated flagella, thereby supplying ATP for dynein molecular motors upon illumination. Flagellar propulsion is coupled to its beating frequency and the dynamic synthesis of ATP triggered by energy of light, enabled us to control beating frequency of flagella as a function of illumination. Light-powered functionalized vesicles integrated with different biological building blocks such as bio-polymers and molecular motors may contribute to bottom-up synthesis of artificial cells that are able to undergo motor-driven morphological deformations and exhibit directional motion in a light-controllable fashion. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info