Quantifying the performance of high-throughput directed evolution protocols
Abstract
Most protocols for the high-throughput directed evolution of enzymes rely on random encapsulation to link phenotype and genotype. In order to optimize these approaches, or compare one to another, one needs a measure of their performance at extracting the best variants. We introduce here a new metric named the Selection Quality Index (SQI), which can be computed from a simple mock experiment with a known initial fraction of active variants. As opposed to previous approaches, our index integrates the random co-encapsulation of entities in compartments and comes with a straightforward experimental interpretation. We further show how this new metric can be used to extract general trends of protocol efficiency, or reveal hidden mechanisms such as a counterintuitive form of beneficial poisoning in the Compartmentalized Self-Replication protocol.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1811.05288,
title = {Quantifying the performance of high-throughput directed evolution protocols},
author = {Adèle Dramé-Maigné and Anton Zadorin and Iaroslava Golovkova and Yannick Rondelez},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1811.05288},
year = {2018}
}