Cloning and sequencing of a gene of organic solvent-stable protease secreted from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PST-01 and its expression in Escherichia coli

A gene of organic solvent-stable protease (PST-01 protease) secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PST-01 was cloned and its nucleotide was sequenced. The nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the PST-01 protease was a pseudolysin, which was an elastase produced by P. aeruginosa and was well characterized by the previous investigators. The PST-01 protease produced in recombinant Escherichia coli was not secreted into the extracellular medium, but its proenzyme was released by the lysis of the cells and became a 33.1kDa mature enzyme autoproteolytically. Its characteristics including organic solvent stability were as same as those of the PST-01 protease secreted by P. aeruginosa PST-01.