Abstract: Provided herein are systems that provide a genetic program to control bacterial life cycle and function execution, thereby conferring programmable microbial transition between planktonic and biofilm states and facilitating the development of cellular functions across physiological domains.

Abstract: The disclosure provides a synthetic biology toolkit that enables precise and effective control of gene expression in A. tumefaciens and related Rhizobia. Inducible expression systems were constructed, characterized, and optimized to obtain an expression system regulated through amplifier introduction and promoter engineering, and cognate promoters were produced and evaluated. To establish a fine-tunability, a series of spacers and a promoter library were constructed to systematically modulate both translational and transcriptional rates. The application of the tools was demonstrated by coexpressing genes with altered expression levels using a single signal. The studies carried out provide precise expression tools, facilitating rational engineering of in A. tumefaciens and related Rhizobia bacteria for advanced plant biotechnological applications.