糖丁基梭菌产丁醇途径在大肠杆菌中的构建及发酵

摘要:【目的】通过克隆来源于糖丁基梭菌(Clostridium saccharobutylicum DSM13864)丁醇合成途径的关键酶基因(thlA,bcs-operon和adhE),构建产丁醇大肠杆菌。【方法】以Clostridium saccharobutylicum DSM13864的基因组为模板,分别扩增丁醇途径关键酶基因thlA,bcs-operon(crt-bcd1-etfB2-fixB2-hbd)和adhE,构建了两个重组质粒pETDuet-bcs和pRSFDuet-thlA-adhE,并成功转入E.coli JM109(DE3)实现异源表达,使大肠杆菌具备产丁醇能力。在半厌氧条件下进行重组菌的发酵,并研究不同培养基对产丁醇的影响。【结果】该重组菌在半厌氧条件下经摇瓶发酵丁醇产量达到25.4 mg/L,通过优化培养基后,在TB发酵培养基中丁醇产量可达到34.1 mg/L。【结论】通过构建重组共表达质粒,将糖丁基梭菌来源的丁醇途径关键酶基因在大肠杆菌中表达,成功构建产丁醇大肠杆菌。该研究提供了一株易于操作的丁醇发酵重组大肠杆菌,避免了传统梭菌发酵丁醇生产中苛刻的厌氧条件、易产孢子等限制问题。     

丙酮丁醇梭菌ldhL基因的克隆及其在大肠杆菌中的表达

首次从丙酮丁醇梭菌(Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC824)中克隆得到L-乳酸脱氢酶(L-lactate dehydrogenase,ldhL)基因,并将其连接到pSE380表达载体上,得到重组质粒pSE380ldhL,将重组质粒转化到乳酸脱氢酶和丙酮酸裂解酶缺陷的Escherichia coli FMJl44大肠杆菌中进行表达。SDS-PAGE分析表达产物的分子量约为34kD,摇瓶发酵后用HPLC检测分析L-乳酸产量为2.4g/L,纯度达到99.9%,不需要再进行手性分离,为以后在工业上生物法生产高纯度的L-乳酸打下基础。     

乙酸钙不动杆菌磷脂酶C在大肠杆菌中重组表达、纯化及酶学性质分析

【目的】构建乙酸钙不动杆菌(Acinetobacter calcoaceticus)ATCC17902磷脂酶C(Phospholipase C,PLC)的重组大肠杆菌菌株、纯化重组酶并进行酶学性质分析比较。【方法】以A.calcoaceticus ATCC17902基因组DNA为模板,PCR扩增得到两段磷脂酶C基因(PLC1、PLC2),构建重组大肠杆菌表达质粒并转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中,实现PLC1、PLC2基因的表达。IPTG诱导表达后,经镍柱亲和层析纯化重组蛋白。【结果】成功构建两株产磷脂酶C的重组大肠杆菌并纯化,样品经SDS-PAGE分析在80 kDa附近均出现显著的特异性条带。NPPC法测得PLC1、PLC2酶活分别为31160±418 U/mg、13640±354 U/mg,最适反应温度分别为65、50℃,最适pH值分别为8、7.5。在低于30℃时,pH值7-8时,PLC1、PLC2重组酶较稳定,40℃处理30min,PLC1酶活稳定而PLC2残余酶活低于25%。Mg2+、Ca2+增强PLC1、PLC2的活性,Zn2+增强PLC1酶活性却抑制PLC2酶活。底物特异性分析表明PLC1、PLC2均水解磷脂酰肌醇(Phosphatidylinositol,PI),对其他种类磷脂不能水解或水解程度很低。【结论】本文首次实现了A.calcoaceticus ATCC17902来源的磷脂酶C的重组表达与功能验证,为其它食品安全性微生物来源的磷脂酶C的研究提供了一定的借鉴意义。     

热稳定酯酰辅酶A合成酶的异源表达及酶学特性

【目的】为寻找能合成丙酰辅酶A和丁酰辅酶A等聚酮合成前体的生物催化剂,用体外酶学实验对一个酯酰辅酶A合成酶进行了表征。【方法】利用丙二酰辅酶A合成酶作为输入序列,通过BLAST程序在Caldicellulosiruptor owensensis OL的基因组中找到1个酯酰辅酶A合成酶基因。在大肠杆菌中进行了异源表达,并通过亲和层析进行纯化。底物谱、最适反应条件、稳定性和动力学参数通过体外酶学实验进行表征,而定点突变则用于活性中心的氨基酸残基的分析。【结果】该酶具有较好的底物宽泛性,可识别丙酸、丁酸、2-甲基丙酸、戊酸、3-甲基丁酸、2-甲基丁酸以及环己甲酸等一系列单酸。反应最适温度为30°C,最适p H为7.0。70°C保温8 h后仍有45%的活性残留,表明该酶相对比较稳定。通过活性中心3个位点的定点突变可以改变酶的底物特异性。【结论】C.owensensis OL来源的酯酰辅酶A合成酶是潜在的生物催化剂,可以用于聚酮前体的合成。     

从海水环境分离筛选甘蔗渣纤维素降解菌

【目的】筛选海水环境高效甘蔗渣纤维素降解菌,并研究不同菌株间的混合发酵对甘蔗渣纤维素酶活力的影响,为纤维素降解菌在海水养殖中的应用提供理论基础。【方法】采用刚果红染色法进行菌株初筛,利用DNS法测定各菌株胞外纤维素酶活力及不同菌株间的混合酶液与混合发酵酶液的纤维素酶活力。【结果】筛选得到两株具有较强纤维素分解能力的细菌菌株Z4和S5,经16S rRNA基因序列分析,初步鉴定为地衣芽孢杆菌(Bacillus licheniformis)。菌株S5具有最高的全酶活和甘蔗渣纤维素酶活,分别为1.16 U/mL和2.80 U/mL。菌株Z4与S5间混合发酵能明显提高菌株的纤维素酶活力,比S5单独发酵时全酶活、甘蔗渣纤维素酶活分别提高40.60%、14.21%。同时菌株S5与芽孢杆菌BZ5混合发酵也能提高其纤维素酶活力,比S5单独发酵时全酶活、甘蔗渣纤维素酶活分别提高6.23%、25.92%。【结论】筛选得到两株酶系较全且酶活较高的纤维素降解菌Z4、S5,适宜的混合发酵可明显提高纤维素降解能力,在海水养殖中有较大的应用前景。     

(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ与葡萄糖脱氢酶共催化高效合成(S)-苯乙二醇北大核心CSCD

【目的】通过优化获得最佳酶活配比,设计近平滑假丝酵母(Candida parapsilosis)CCTCC M203011的(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ与枯草芽孢杆菌(Bacillus sp.)YX-1葡萄糖脱氢酶在大肠杆菌中的共表达体系,实现重组菌高效催化2-羟基苯乙酮,合成(S)-苯乙二醇。【方法】分别从重组大肠杆菌中纯化了(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ和葡萄糖脱氢酶,研究了2种酶共催化2-羟基苯乙酮的最佳酶活比例,最适催化温度和pH,由此构建(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ和葡萄糖脱氢酶的共表达体系。【结果】(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ的比酶活力为1.3 U/mg,葡萄糖脱氢酶的比酶活力为13.5 U/mg。在总酶活力为1 U时,(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ和葡萄糖脱氢酶共催化体系中,确定了2种酶的最佳比例在1∶1到5∶1(U/U)之间,最适反应温度为30℃,pH为7.0。在此基础上构建了(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ和葡萄糖脱氢酶基因比为1∶1的共表达体系,共表达重组菌破碎上清液中(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ和葡萄糖脱氢酶酶活分别为0.76 U/mg和0.73 U/mg,两者的酶活比例为1∶1。在上述确定的最适催化条件下,其催化10 g/L 2-羟基苯乙酮,产物(S)-苯乙二醇的光学纯度和得率均高达99%以上。与仅含有(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ的重组大肠杆菌相比,共表达体系转化产物(S)-苯乙二醇的得率明显提高,且转化时间由原来的24 h缩短为13 h。【结论】通过确定(S)-羰基还原酶Ⅱ和葡萄糖脱氢酶最佳酶活配比,为构建手性催化的靶酶和辅酶再生酶共表达体系,为实现手性化合物的高效制备提供了研究基础。     

产低温脂肪酶菌株CZW001发酵培养基优化研究

【目的】研究产低温脂肪酶菌株CZW001发酵培养基。【方法】在单因素试验的基础上, 采用Plackett-Burman (P-B)设计, Box-Behnken (B-B)设计和响应面试验设计(RSM), 在20 °C、pH 8.0、160?r/min发酵2 d条件下, 对发酵培养基进行优化。【结果】该菌株最适产酶培养基为(g/L): 葡萄糖7.68, 橄榄油21.93, 硫酸铵2.0, 磷酸二氢钾1.0, 硫酸镁0.27, 氯化钙0.3, 氯化钠20.0, 吐温-80 1.0。其最高酶活为62.8 U/mL, 比优化前提高了3.14倍。【结论】通过对产低温脂肪酶菌株CZW001发酵培养基优化研究, 明显提高低温脂肪酶活力。     

聚苹果酸聚合途径中苹果酰辅酶A连接酶基因的克隆、表达及酶学性质

【目的】研究出芽短梗霉聚苹果酸聚合途径中苹果酰辅酶A连接酶基因及其酶学特性。【方法】通过设计兼并引物,采用IPCR技术从出芽短梗霉CCTCC M2012223的基因组中扩增得到苹果酰辅酶A连接酶基因的cDNA全长序列,构建表达载体,通过大肠杆菌异源表达,Ni-NTA柱层析纯化酶蛋白,分析其酶学特性。【结果】获得苹果酰辅酶A连接酶基因序列全长为1498 bp,编码440 aa,含有4个外显子和3个内含子。该重组酶最适反应温度为25℃,最适反应pH值为8.0,高浓度底物ATP明显对酶活性具有抑制作用,单体选择性表明对底物草酸、草酰乙酸、丁酸、丙二酸也具有很好催化活性。【结论】成功从出芽短梗霉CCTCC M2012223中克隆获得聚苹果酸聚合途径的苹果酰辅酶A连接酶基因,为聚苹果酸聚合途径解析及新型可降解材料创制奠定基础。     

植物乳杆菌CLP0279发酵生产低温SOD培养基的优化

【目的】提高植物乳杆菌CLP0279发酵生产低温超氧化物歧化酶(superoxide dismutase,SOD)的能力。【方法】在单因素实验基础上,采用Plackett-Burman (PB)设计、Box-Behnken (BB)设计和响应面分析法(RSM),对发酵培养基进行优化。【结果】植物乳杆菌CLP0279产低温SOD最佳发酵培养基(g/L)：玉米粉25.000,磷酸二氢钾2.600,磷酸氢二钾1.830,硫酸铜0.011,硫酸锌0.014。在最佳培养基条件下产酶活力达到194.82 U/ml,是优化前的1.36倍。【结论】通过响应面分析,对植物乳杆菌CLP0279发酵生产低温SOD的培养基进行优化,明显提高了产酶能力。确定了磷酸氢二钾、硫酸铜和硫酸铵为发酵培养基中影响酶活的3个关键因子。研究结果为SOD的发酵放大提供了依据。     

产丁二酸谷氨酸棒状杆菌基因缺失代谢工程菌株的构建

【目的】提高谷氨酸棒状杆菌(Corynebacterium glutamicum)ATCC13032厌氧条件下的丁二酸产量,并降低发酵产物中副产物的含量。【方法】以谷氨酸棒状杆菌(Corynebacterium glutamicum)ATCC13032为出发菌,首先敲除乳酸形成的关键酶乳酸脱氢酶基因(ldh),构建ldh缺失株谷氨酸棒状杆菌ATCC13032Δldh;然后以缺失株谷氨酸棒状杆菌ATCC13032Δldh为出发菌,敲除该菌的丙酮酸脱氢酶系的E1p酶基因(aceE),构建一株双缺失突变菌株谷氨酸棒状杆菌ATCC13032ΔldhΔaceE。【结果】与供试菌比较,谷氨酸棒状杆菌ATCC13032Δldh的丁二酸产量和转化率分别提高了94.9%和32%,并且主要的副产物乳酸产量由出发菌产量的63.5 g/L降低到很微量的程度。丙酮酸脱氢酶的失活并不能完全消除副产物乙酸的形成,但乙酸的产量较ATCC13032Δldh降低了37.9%,丁二酸的产量略有提高。【结论】该重组菌具有较强的丁二酸生产工业化潜力,并且该研究方法为微生物代谢育种提供参考。     

Expression of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clostridium acetobutylicum</Emphasis> butanol synthetic genes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis>

A recombinant butanol pathway composed of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 genes, thiL, hbd, crt, bcd-etfB-etfA, and adhe1 (or adhe) coding for acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase (THL), β-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (HBD), 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydratase (CRT), butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (BCD), butyraldehyde dehydrogenase (BYDH), and butanol dehydrogenase (BDH), under the tac promoter control was constructed and was introduced into Escherichia coli. The functional expression of these six enzymes was proved by demonstrating the corresponding enzyme activities using spectrophotometric, high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography analyses. The BCD activity, which was not detected in E. coli previously, was shown in the present study by performing the procedure from cell extract preparation to activity measurement under anaerobic condition. Moreover, the etfA and etfB co-expression was found to be essential for the BCD activity. In the case of BYDH activity, the adhe gene product was shown to have higher specificity towards butyryl-CoA compared to the adhe1 product. Butanol production from glucose was achieved by the highly concentrated cells of the butanologenic E. coli strains, BUT1 with adhe1 and BUT2 with adhe, under anaerobic condition, and the BUT1 and BUT2 strains were shown to produce 4 and 16-mM butanol with 6- and 1-mM butyrate as a byproduct, respectively. This study reports the novel butanol production by an aerobically pregrown microorganism possessing the genes of a strict anaerobe, Clostridium acetobutylicum.     

Engineering a homobutanol fermentation pathway in Escherichia coli EG03

A homobutanol fermentation pathway was engineered in a derivative of Escherichia coli B (glucose [glycolysis] => 2 pyruvate + 2 NADH; pyruvate [pyruvate dehydrogenase] => acetyl-CoA + NADH; 2 acetyl-CoA [butanol pathway enzymes] + 4 NADH => butanol; summary stoichiometry: glucose => butanol). Initially, the native fermentation pathways were eliminated from E. coli B by deleting the genes encoding for lactate dehydrogenase (ldhA), acetate kinase (ackA), fumarate reductase (frdABCD), pyruvate formate lyase (pflB), and alcohol dehydrogenase (adhE), and the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (aceEF-lpd) was anaerobically expressed through promoter replacement. The resulting strain, E. coli EG03 (ΔfrdABCD ΔldhA ΔackA ΔpflB Δ adhE ΔpdhR ::pflBp6-aceEF-lpd ΔmgsA), could generate 4 NADH for every glucose oxidized to two acetyl-CoA through glycolysis and the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. However, EG03 lost its ability for anaerobic growth due to the lack of NADH oxidation pathways. When the butanol pathway genes that encode for acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase (thiL), 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (hbd), crotonase (crt), butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (bcd, etfA, etfB), and butyraldehyde dehydrogenase (adheII) were cloned from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824, and expressed in E. coli EG03, a balanced NADH oxidation pathway was established for homobutanol fermentation (glucose => 4 NADH + 2 acetyl-CoA => butanol). This strain was able to convert glucose to butanol (1,254 mg l(-1)) under anaerobic condition.     

Expression of plasmid-encoded aad in Clostridium acetobutylicum M5 restores vigorous butanol production.

Mutant M5 of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824, which produces neither butanol nor acetone and is deficient in butyraldehyde dehydrogenase (BYDH), acetoacetate decarboxylase, and acetoacetyl-coenzyme A:acetate/butyrate:coenzyme A-transferase activities, was transformed with plasmid pCAAD, which carries the gene aad (R. V. Nair, G. N. Bennett, and E. T. Papoutsakis, J. Bacteriol, 176:871-885, 1994). In batch fermentation studies, aad expression restored butanol formation (84 mM) in mutant M5 without any acetone formation or any significant increase in ethanol production. The corresponding protein (AAD) appeared as a ca. 96-kDa band in a denaturing protein gel. Expression of AAD in M5 resulted in restoration of BYDH activity and small increases in the activities of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, butanol dehydrogenase, and ethanol dehydrogenase. These findings suggest that BYDH activity in C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824 resides largely in AAD, and that AAD's primary role is in the formation of butanol rather than of ethanol.     

Alcohol dehydrogenase: multiplicity and relatedness in the solvent-producing clostridia

Abstract: Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is a key enzyme for the production of butanol, ethanol, and isopropanol by the solvent-producing clostridia. Initial studies of ADH in extracts of several strains of Clostridium acetobutylicum and C. beijerinckii gave conflicting molecular properties. A more coherent picture has emerged because of the following results: (i) identification of ADHs with different coenzyme specificities in these species; (ii) discovery of structurally conserved ADHs (type 3) in three solvent-producing species; (iii) isolation of mutants with deficiencies in butanol production and restoration of butanol production with a cloned alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase gene; and (iv) resolution of various ' C. acetobutylicum ' cultures into four species. The three ADH isozymes of C. beijerinckii NRRL B592 have high sequence similarities to ADH-1 of Clostridium sp. NCP 262 (formerly C. acetobutylicum P262) and to the ADH domain of the alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase of C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824/DSM 792. The NADH-dependent activity of the ADHs from C. beijerinckii NRRL B592 and the BDHs from C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824 is profoundly affected by the pH of the assay, and the relative importance of NADH and NADPH to butanol production may be misappraised when NAD(P)H-dependent activities were measured at different pH values. The primary/secondary ADH of isopropanol-producing C. beijerinckii is a type-1 enzyme and is highly conserved in Thermoanaerobacter brockii (formerly Thermoanaerobium brockii ) and Entamoeba histolytica . Several solvent-forming enzymes (primary ADH, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase) are very similar between C. beijerinckii and the species represented by Clostridium sp. NCP 262 and NRRL B643. The realization of such relationships will facilitate the elucidation of the roles of different ADHs because each type of ADH can now be studied in an organism most amenable to experimental manipulations.     

Engineered Synthetic Pathway for Isopropanol Production in Escherichia coli

A synthetic pathway was engineered in Escherichia coli to produce isopropanol by expressing various combinations of genes from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824, E. coli K-12 MG1655, Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B593, and Thermoanaerobacter brockii HTD4. The strain with the combination of C. acetobutylicum thl (acetyl-coenzyme A [CoA] acetyltransferase), E. coli atoAD (acetoacetyl-CoA transferase), C. acetobutylicum adc (acetoacetate decarboxylase), and C. beijerinckii adh (secondary alcohol dehydrogenase) achieved the highest titer. This strain produced 81.6 mM isopropanol in shake flasks with a yield of 43.5% (mol/mol) in the production phase. To our knowledge, this work is the first to produce isopropanol in E. coli, and the titer exceeded that from the native producers.     

Biosynthesis of enantiopure (S)-3-hydroxybutyric acid in metabolically engineered Escherichia coli

A biosynthetic pathway for the production of (S)-3-hydroxybutyric acid (S3HB) from glucose was established in recombinant Escherichia coli by introducing the beta-ketothiolase gene from Ralstonia eutropha H16, the (S)-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase gene from R. eutropha H16, or Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC824, and the 3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA hydrolase gene from Bacillus cereus ATCC14579. Artificial operon consisting of these genes was constructed and was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) codon plus under T7 promoter by isopropyl beta-D: -thiogalactoside (IPTG) induction. Recombinant E. coli BL21 (DE3) codon plus expressing the beta-ketothiolase gene, the (S)-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase gene, and the 3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA hydrolase gene could synthesize enantiomerically pure S3HB to the concentration of 0.61 g l(-1) from 20 g l(-1) of glucose in Luria-Bertani medium. Fed-batch cultures of recombinant E. coli BL21 (DE3) codon plus were carried out to achieve higher titer of S3HB with varying induction time and glucose concentration during fermentation. Protein expression was induced by addition of 1 mM IPTG when cell concentration reached 10 and 20 g l(-1) (OD(600) = 30 and 60), respectively. When protein expression was induced at 60 of OD(600) and glucose was fed to the concentration of 15 g l(-1), 10.3 g l(-1) of S3HB was obtained in 38 h with the S3HB productivity of 0.21 g l(-1)h(-1). Lowering glucose concentration to 5 g l(-1) and induction of protein expression at 30 of OD(600) significantly reduced final S3HB concentration to 3.7 g l(-1), which also resulted in the decrease of the S3HB productivity to 0.05 g l(-1)h(-1).     

Cloning and expression of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 acetoacetyl-coenzyme A:acetate/butyrate:coenzyme A-transferase in Escherichia coli.

Coenzyme A (CoA)-transferase (acetoacetyl-CoA:acetate/butyrate:CoA-transferase [butyrate-acetoacetate CoA-transferase] [EC 2.8.3.9]) of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 is an important enzyme in the metabolic shift between the acid-producing and solvent-forming states of this organism. The purification and properties of the enzyme have recently been described (D. P. Weisenborn, F. B. Rudolph, and E. T. Papoutsakis, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 55:323-329, 1989). The genes encoding the two subunits of this enzyme have been cloned by using synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide probes designed from amino-terminal sequencing data from each subunit of the CoA-transferase. A bacteriophage lambda EMBL3 library of C. acetobutylicum DNA was prepared and screened by using these probes. Subsequent subcloning experiments established the position of the structural genes for CoA-transferase. Complementation of Escherichia coli ato mutants with the recombinant plasmid pCoAT4 (pUC19 carrying a 1.8-kilobase insert of C. acetobutylicum DNA encoding CoA-transferase activity) enabled the transformants to grow on butyrate as a sole carbon source. Despite the ability of CoA-transferase to complement the ato defect in E. coli mutants, Southern blot and Western blot (immunoblot) analyses showed that neither the C. acetobutylicum genes encoding CoA-transferase nor the enzyme itself shared any apparent homology with its E. coli counterpart. Polypeptides of Mr of the purified CoA-transferase subunits were observed by Western blot and maxicell analysis of whole-cell extracts of E. coli harboring pCoAT4. The proximity and orientation of the genes suggest that the genes encoding the two subunits of CoA-transferase may form an operon similar to that found in E. coli.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

In vivo methylation in Escherichia coli by the Bacillus subtilis phage phi 3T I methyltransferase to protect plasmids from restriction upon transformation of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824.

The restriction endonuclease Cac824I has been shown to be a major barrier to electrotransformation of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 (L. D. Mermelstein, N. E. Welker, G. N. Bennett, and E. T. Papoutsakis, Bio/Technology 10:190-195, 1992). Methylation by the phi 3T I methyltransferase encoded by Bacillus subtilis phage phi 3T was shown to protect plasmid DNA from restriction by Cac824I. Expression in Escherichia coli of the phi 3tI gene (which encodes the phi 3T I methyltransferase) from pAN1, which replicates via the p15A origin of replication, was sufficient to completely methylate coresident E. coli-C. acetobutylicum shuttle vectors with ColE1 origins of replication. Three shuttle vectors (pIMP1, pSYL2, and pSYL7) methylated in this manner were used to efficiently electrotransform strain ATCC 824. These vectors could not be introduced into strain ATCC 824 when unmethylated because the E. coli portions of the plasmids contain a large number of Cac824I sites. This method obviates the need to use B. subtilis-C. acetobutylicum shuttle vectors with few Cac824I sites to introduce DNA into C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824.     

Purification of acetoacetate decarboxylase from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 and cloning of the acetoacetate decarboxylase gene in Escherichia coli.

In Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824, acetoacetate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.4) is essential for solvent production, catalyzing the decarboxylation of acetoacetate to acetone. We report here the purification of the enzyme from C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824 and the cloning and expression of the gene encoding the acetoacetate decarboxylase enzyme in Escherichia coli. A bacteriophage lambda EMBL3 library of C. acetobutylicum DNA was screened by plaque hybridization, using oligodeoxynucleotide probes derived from the N-terminal amino acid sequence obtained from the purified protein. Phage DNA from positive plaques was analyzed by Southern hybridization. Restriction mapping and subsequent subcloning of DNA fragments hybridizing to the probes localized the gene within an approximately 2.1 kb EcoRI/Bg/II fragment. A polypeptide with a molecular weight of approximately 28,000 corresponding to that of the purified acetoacetate decarboxylase was observed in both Western blots (immunoblots) and maxicell analysis of whole-cell extracts of E. coli harboring the clostridial gene. Although the expression of the gene is tightly regulated in C. acetobutylicum, it was well expressed in E. coli, although from a promoter sequence of clostridial origin.