Overproduction, purification, and characterization of the Plasmodium falciparum heat shock protein 70

Plasmodium falciparum heat shock protein (PfHsp70) has been proposed to be involved in the cytoprotection of the malaria parasite through its action as a molecular chaperone. However, the biochemical and chaperone properties of PfHsp70 have not been elucidated. The heterologous overproduction of P. falciparum proteins in Escherichia coli is problematic because of its AT-rich genome and the usage of codons that are rarely used in E. coli. In this paper, we describe the successful overproduction of (His)(6)-PfHsp70 in E. coli using the pQE30 expression vector system. Initial experiments with E. coli [pQE30/PfHsp70] resulted in the overproduction of the full-length protein and truncated derivatives. The RIG plasmid, which encodes tRNAs for rare codons, was engineered into the E. coli [pQE30/PfHsp70] strain, resulting in significant reduction of the truncated (His)(6)-PfHsp70 derivatives and improved yields of the full-length protein. (His)(6)-PfHsp70 was successfully purified using nickel-chelating Sepharose affinity chromatography and its biochemical properties were determined. The V(max), K(m), and k(cat) for the basal ATPase activity of (His)(6)-PfHsp70 were found to be 14.6 nmol/min/mg, 616.5 microM, and 1.03 min(-1), respectively. Gel filtration studies indicated that (His)(6)-PfHsp70 existed largely as a monomer in solution. This is the first study to biochemically describe PfHsp70 and establishes a foundation for future studies on its chaperone properties.     

Expression, purification of human vasostatin120-180 in Escherichia coli, and its anti-angiogenic characterization

According to codon preference of Escherichia coli, the optimized coding sequence of human vasostatin120-180aa (VAS) was obtained by chemical synthesis and molecular cloning methods. Using PCR and enzyme digestion, the full encoding sequence for VAS was cloned into the E. coli expression vector pALEX and expressed as a GST fusion protein in BL21 (DE3) strain. GST-VAS protein approximately accounted for 45% of the total bacterial proteins. Most of target protein existed in inclusion body. To improve the solubility of GST-VAS, the contribution of low temperature and molecular chaperone co-expression to the solubility of GST-VAS was tested. The results showed that co-expression with chaperons, TF and GroES/GroEL, and low expression temperature cooperatively improved the solubility of GST-VAS from 10 to 85%, and the yield of soluble GST-VAS was sixfold increased. When purified by GST affinity chromatography, 50 mg GST-VAS was obtained with purity over 85% from 1 L culture. Intact VAS was released by enterokinase digestion and further purified by Sephadex G50 gel filtration chromatography. About 7.2 mg intact homogeneous VAS protein was finally produced from 1L bacterial culture. The identity of GST-VAS and VAS was validated by Western blotting analysis. Recombinant VAS protein displayed distinct inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation and anti-angiogenic activity by chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane assay.     

Improvement of the production of GFPuv-beta1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase 2 fusion protein using a molecular chaperone-assisted insect-cell-based expression system

A stable Tn-5B1-4 insect cell line co-expressing the recombinant GFPuv-beta1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase 2 (GFPuv-beta3GnT2) protein fused to a melittin signal sequence with a lectin-like molecular chaperone, human calnexin (hCNX) or human calreticulin (hCRT), was constructed. The expression of either of these molecular chaperones is under the control of a weak promoter, OpMNPV IE2, while that of GFPuv-beta3GnT2 is under the control of Bombyx mori actin promoter. This co-expression system was compared between two different insect cell-baculovirus expression systems: (1) co-infection of the recombinant baculovirus containing a molecular chaperone (AcNPV-hCNX or -hCRT) with a recombinant baculovirus containing GFPuv-beta3GnT2 fused with the melittin signal sequence (AcNPV-me-GGT); (2) infection of AcNPV-me-GGT to a stably expressing cell line for either hCNX or hCRT. In the co-infection system, the intracellular GFPuv-beta3GnT2 expression level was low because of the improved secretion level ratio of the fusion protein, due to the chaperone expression. In the case of infection to the stably expressing cell line for a chaperone, the extracellular GFPuv-beta3GnT2 expression level was similar to the intracellular expression level. This suggests that the amount of expressed chaperone is not sufficient to process beta3GnT2. On the other hand, the co-expression system produced an extracellular beta3GnT activity of 22-23 mU/mL, which was approximately 3.5- and 11-fold higher than those of the stable expression of the fusion gene without the chaperone and the conventional BES with the addition of protease, respectively. The secretion level ratio of the fusion protein of this system increased to 82%, which was approximately 1.5-fold that of any other expression system investigated thus far. These results indicate that the ratio of the expression level of the target gene to that of the chaperone gene may be an important factor in maximizing the production of a target protein. The molecular-chaperone-assisted expression system using a stably transformed insect cell line offers promising prospects for the efficient production of recombinant secretory proteins in insect cells.     

Development of PLEX, a plasmid-based expression system for production of heterologous gene products by the gram-positive bacteria Streptococcus gordonii

While Escherichia coli expression systems have been widely utilized for the production of heterologous proteins, these systems have limitations with regard to the production of particular protein products, including poor expression, expression of insoluble proteins into inclusion bodies, and/or expression of a truncated product. Using the surface protein expression (SPEX) system, chromosomally integrated heterologous genes are expressed and secreted into media by the naturally competent gram-positive organism Streptococcus gordonii. After E. coli turned out to be an inappropriate expression system to produce sufficient quantities of intact product, we successfully utilized SPEX to produce the heterologous antigen BH4XCRR that is designed from sequences homologous to the S. pyogenes M-protein C-repeat region. To further enhance production of this product by S. gordonii, we sought to develop a novel system for the production and secretion of heterologous proteins. We observed that under various growth conditions, S. gordonii secreted high levels of a 172 kDa protein, which was identified by N-terminal sequence analysis as the glucosyltransferase GTF. Here we report on the development of a plasmid-based expression system, designated as PLEX, which we used to enhance production of BH4XCRR by S. gordonii. A region from the S. gordonii chromosome that contains the positive regulatory gene rgg, putative gtfG promoter, and gtfG secretion-signal sequence was cloned into the E. coli/Streptococcus shuttle plasmid pVA838. Additionally, the bh4xcrr structural gene was cloned into the same plasmid downstream and in-frame with rgg and gtfG. This plasmid construct was transformed into S. gordonii and BH4XCRR was detected in culture supernatants from transformants at greater concentrations than in supernatants from a SPEX strain expressing the same product. BH4XCRR was easily purified from culture supernatant using a scalable two-step purification process involving hydrophobic-interaction and gel-filtration chromatography.     

分子伴侣共表达对嗜热环糊精葡萄糖基转移酶异源可溶性表达的影响

【目的】通过优化表达条件,提高嗜热环糊精葡萄糖基转移酶(CGTase)的可溶性表达和胞外酶活性。【方法】构建含cgt基因的重组表达质粒p ET-28a(+)-omp A-cgt,筛选最适诱导温度,并构建5种分子伴侣共表达系统(p KJE8、p KJE7、p Gro7、p Tf16和p G-Tf2,5种分子伴侣质粒分别与重组表达质粒p ET-28a(+)-omp A-cgt共表达),筛选最适分子伴侣质粒,优化共表达条件。【结果】通过SDS-PAGE分析和测定胞外酶活,CGTase基因在大肠杆菌中实现表达,且具有一定量的重组CGTase分泌至胞外;25°C诱导时CGTase的可溶性表达和在胞外上清中的酶活都最高;分子伴侣质粒p KJE8使酶的胞外活性提高了48.6%,效果最为显著;当L-阿拉伯糖浓度为0.5 g/L时,分子伴侣质粒p KJE8使酶的胞外活性提高了68.5%。【结论】通过优化表达条件及使用分子伴侣共表达系统提高了环糊精葡萄糖基转移酶的可溶性表达和胞外酶活,为该酶进一步相关研究奠定了基础。     

Soluble expression of recombinant human CD137 ligand in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> by co-expression of chaperones

CD137 ligand (CD137L) is a member of the tumor-necrosis factor superfamily that binds CD137 to provide positive co-stimulatory signals for T cells activation. Co-stimulation through CD137/CD137L has become one of the promising approaches for cancer therapy. Previous reports have shown that CD137L expressed in Escherichia coli resulted in inclusion bodies or low yield. In this study, the effects of five different chaperone teams on the soluble expression of recombinant human CD137L protein were explored and analyzed. The poor expression of CD137L in the cytoplasm of E. coli was improved significantly by co-expression of chaperone GroES-GroEL-Tf. After dual induction and affinity chromatography, purified recombinant CD137L was obtained at a yield of 3 mg protein per liter with purity greater than 98% from original undetectable level. Additionally, the purified recombinant CD137L could bind CD137-positive cells in a dose-dependent manner, markedly promote the growth of activated mice T cells, and elevate the release of IL-2. The present work provides an effective system for soluble expression of functional human co-stimulatory molecule CD137L, which will facilitate the clinical developments of recombinant protein drugs.     

Enhancing functional expression of β-glucosidase in Pichia pastoris by co-expressing protein disulfide isomerase

The expression of heterologous proteins may exert severe stress on the host cells at different levels. Protein folding and disulfide bond formation were identified as rate-limited steps in recombinant protein secretion in yeast cells. For the production of β-glucosidase in Pichia pastoris, final β-glucosidase activity reached 1,749 U/mL after fermentation optimization in a 3 L bioreactor, while the specific activity decreased from 620 to 467 U/mg, indicating a potential protein misfolding. To solve this problem, protein disulfide isomerase, a chaperone protein which may effectively regulate disulfide bond formation and protein folding, was co-expressed with β-glucosidase. In the co-expression system, a β-glucosidase production level of 2,553 U/mL was achieved and the specific activity of the enzyme reached 721 U/mg, which is 1.54 fold that of the control.     

Effect of IPTG amount on apo- and holo- forms of glycerophosphate oxidase expressed in Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli has proved to be a successful host for the expression of many heterologous proteins, and much efforts have been made toward improving recombinant protein expression including the usage of strong promoters and co-expression with chaperones. But little attention was paid on the relation between expression level and function of the target protein. Glycerophosphate oxidase (GPO) is a protein with FAD cofactor (without free cysteine and disulfide bonds).It was observed that the specific activity of GPO dramatically decreased with the increase of inducer IPTG. In addition, the stability of it decreased correspondingly. The structural difference of samples expressed under varying IPTG was investigated using size-exclusion and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography, together with CD spectrum. It was found that the conformation of peptide and organization of subunits were not affected. The loss of specific activity and stability were correlated to incomplete attachment of FAD onto GPO. These results revealed that synthesis speed should be controlled either by reduction of IPTG amount or using weak promoters in the production of GPO.     

Use of a Chimeric Hsp70 to Enhance the Quality of Recombinant Plasmodium falciparum S-Adenosylmethionine Decarboxylase Protein Produced in Escherichia coli

S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (PfAdoMetDC) from Plasmodium falciparum is a prospective antimalarial drug target. The production of recombinant PfAdoMetDC for biochemical validation as a drug target is important. The production of PfAdoMetDC in Escherichia coli has been reported to result in unsatisfactory yields and poor quality product. The co-expression of recombinant proteins with molecular chaperones has been proposed as one way to improve the production of the former in E. coli. E. coli heat shock proteins DnaK, GroEL-GroES and DnaJ have previously been used to enhance production of some recombinant proteins. However, the outcomes were inconsistent. An Hsp70 chimeric protein, KPf, which is made up of the ATPase domain of E. coli DnaK and the substrate binding domain of P. falciparum Hsp70 (PfHsp70) has been previously shown to exhibit chaperone function when it was expressed in E. coli cells whose resident Hsp70 (DnaK) function was impaired. We proposed that because of its domain constitution, KPf would most likely be recognised by E. coli Hsp70 co-chaperones. Furthermore, because it possesses a substrate binding domain of plasmodial origin, KPf would be primed to recognise recombinant PfAdoMetDC expressed in E. coli. First, using site-directed mutagenesis, followed by complementation assays, we established that KPf with a mutation in the hydrophobic residue located in its substrate binding cavity was functionally compromised. We further co-expressed PfAdoMetDC with KPf, PfHsp70 and DnaK in E. coli cells either in the absence or presence of over-expressed GroEL-GroES chaperonin. The folded and functional status of the produced PfAdoMetDC was assessed using limited proteolysis and enzyme assays. PfAdoMetDC co-expressed with KPf and PfHsp70 exhibited improved activity compared to protein co-expressed with over-expressed DnaK. Our findings suggest that chimeric KPf may be an ideal Hsp70 co-expression partner for the production of recombinant plasmodial proteins in E. coli.     

Heterologous expression of plasmodial proteins for structural studies and functional annotation

Malaria remains the world's most devastating tropical infectious disease with as many as 40% of the world population living in risk areas. The widespread resistance of Plasmodium parasites to the cost-effective chloroquine and antifolates has forced the introduction of more costly drug combinations, such as Coartem^®. In the absence of a vaccine in the foreseeable future, one strategy to address the growing malaria problem is to identify and characterize new and durable antimalarial drug targets, the majority of which are parasite proteins. Biochemical and structure-activity analysis of these proteins is ultimately essential in the characterization of such targets but requires large amounts of functional protein. Even though heterologous protein production has now become a relatively routine endeavour for most proteins of diverse origins, the functional expression of soluble plasmodial proteins is highly problematic and slows the progress of antimalarial drug target discovery. Here the status quo of heterologous production of plasmodial proteins is presented, constraints are highlighted and alternative strategies and hosts for functional expression and annotation of plasmodial proteins are reviewed.     

Improved 1, 2, 4-butanetriol production from an engineered <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> by co-expression of different chaperone proteins

1, 2, 4-Butanetriol (BT) is a high-value non-natural chemical and has important applications in polymers, medical production and military industry. In the constructed BT biosynthesis pathway from xylose in Escherichia coli, the xylose dehydrogenase (Xdh) and the benzoylformate decarboxylase (MdlC) are heterologous enzymes and the activity of MdlC is the key limiting factor for BT production. In this study, six chaperone protein systems were introduced into the engineered E. coli harboring the recombinant BT pathway. The chaperone GroES–GroEL was beneficial to Xdh activity but had a negative effect on MdlC activity and BT titer. The plasmid pTf16 containing the tig gene (trigger factor) was beneficial to Xdh and MdlC activities and improved the BT titer from 0.42 to 0.56 g/l from 20 g/l xylose. However, co-expression of trigger factor and GroES–GroEL simultaneously reduced the activity of MdlC and had no effect on the BT production. The plasmid pKJE7 harboring dnaK–dnaJ–grpE showed significant negative effects on these enzyme activities and cell growth, leading to completely restrained the BT production. Similarly, co-expression of DnaKJ–GrpPE and GroES–GroEL simultaneously reduced Xdh and MdlC activities and decreased the BT titer by 45.2 %. The BT production of the engineered E. coli harboring pTf16 was further improved to the highest level at 1.01 g/l under pH control (pH 7). This work showed the potential application of chaperone proteins in microorganism engineering to get high production of target compounds as an effective and valuable tool.     

芽孢杆菌β-折叠桶植酸酶的原核可溶性表达优化及包涵体复性研究

目的:来源于芽孢杆菌的β-折叠桶植酸酶基因PhyH,截去N端120个碱基编码的40个氨基酸后,成功构建了原核表达体系,通过两种方法分别得到有活性的目的蛋白PhyHT,并通过进一步纯化提高目的蛋白的纯度.方法:通过分子伴侣共表达系统提高目的蛋白的可溶性表达,并通过包涵体复性研究,从包涵体中制备出有活性的目的蛋白.结果:(1)目的蛋白PhyHT主要以包涵体形式存在于沉淀中;(2)通过优化表达条件,降低温度和诱导剂浓度均不能明显改善包涵体问题,通过构建分子伴侣共表达系统(即pG-KJE8、pGro7、pKJE7和pTfl6 4种分子伴侣质粒分别与重组表达质粒pET28b-PhyHT共表达),筛选能提高目的蛋白可溶性表达的分子伴侣质粒;(3)包涵体经过复性和进一步的纯化,得到了高纯度的有生物活性的目的蛋白.     

Robots, pipelines, polyproteins: enabling multiprotein expression in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells

Multiprotein complexes catalyze vital biological functions in the cell. A paramount objective of the SPINE2 project was to address the structural molecular biology of these multiprotein complexes, by enlisting and developing enabling technologies for their study. An emerging key prerequisite for studying complex biological specimens is their recombinant overproduction. Novel reagents and streamlined protocols for rapidly assembling co-expression constructs for this purpose have been designed and validated. The high-throughput pipeline implemented at IGBMC Strasbourg and the ACEMBL platform at the EMBL Grenoble utilize recombinant overexpression systems for heterologous expression of proteins and their complexes. Extension of the ACEMBL platform technology to include eukaryotic hosts such as insect and mammalian cells has been achieved. Efficient production of large multicomponent protein complexes for structural studies using the baculovirus/insect cell system can be hampered by a stoichiometric imbalance of the subunits produced. A polyprotein strategy has been developed to overcome this bottleneck and has been successfully implemented in our MultiBac baculovirus expression system for producing multiprotein complexes.     

Overexpression of membrane proteins from higher eukaryotes in yeasts

Heterologous expression and characterisation of the membrane proteins of higher eukaryotes is of paramount interest in fundamental and applied research. Due to the rather simple and well-established methods for their genetic modification and cultivation, yeast cells are attractive host systems for recombinant protein production. This review provides an overview on the remarkable progress, and discusses pitfalls, in applying various yeast host strains for high-level expression of eukaryotic membrane proteins. In contrast to the cell lines of higher eukaryotes, yeasts permit efficient library screening methods. Modified yeasts are used as high-throughput screening tools for heterologous membrane protein functions or as benchmark for analysing drug–target relationships, e.g., by using yeasts as sensors. Furthermore, yeasts are powerful hosts for revealing interactions stabilising and/or activating membrane proteins. We also discuss the stress responses of yeasts upon heterologous expression of membrane proteins. Through co-expression of chaperones and/or optimising yeast cultivation and expression strategies, yield-optimised hosts have been created for membrane protein crystallography or efficient whole-cell production of fine chemicals.     

费希尔曲霉脂肪酶在毕赤酵母中的优化表达及高密度发酵

【背景】脂肪酶广泛应用于纺织、食品、药品、皮革等工业领域,其在微生物中的异源表达研究进一步促进了脂肪酶产品的生产和应用。【目的】实现来源于费希尔曲霉的脂肪酶在毕赤酵母中的高效异源表达,探究其合适的表达及发酵条件,提高产量,降低成本。【方法】对费希尔曲霉的脂肪酶编码基因进行密码子优化后,应用pPIC9k质粒整合到毕赤酵母GS115基因组上,构建高产脂肪酶Lip605的毕赤酵母工程菌;并通过响应面发酵条件优化、筛选最适伴侣蛋白和高密度发酵相结合的方法,综合提高脂肪酶表达量。【结果】确定高产脂肪酶毕赤酵母工程菌的最优摇瓶发酵产酶条件为:甲醇3.103%(体积比),生物素0.4 mg/L,酵母粉11.5 g/L,酵母基础氮源培养基(yeast nitrogen base,YNB) 13.4 g/L,初始pH 6.4,装液量50 mL/250 mL,转速220 r/min,温度24°C,培养时间40 h。优化后的胞外脂肪酶酶活达到72.34 U/mL,较优化前提高了5.8倍;进一步选择12个伴侣蛋白分别与脂肪酶Lip605进行共表达,其中共表达伴侣蛋白Rpl10(pPICZA-RPL10)效果最佳,可使Lip605表达量进一步提高46.8%;在此基础上,经过10 L发酵罐分批补料的高密度发酵,工程菌株发酵142 h,胞外脂肪酶酶活最高达到680 U/mL,蛋白浓度为15.89 g/L。【结论】应用复合策略有效提高了脂肪酶Lip605在毕赤酵母中的发酵产量,为其进一步工业化生产奠定了良好的基础。     

hTNFR1在大肠杆菌中可溶性表达及纯化

将人源肿瘤坏死因子Ⅰ型受体（hTNFR1）基因克隆到pET-22b表达载体,成功构建了重组表达质粒pETH1,电转到Escherichia coli BL21（DE3）表达菌株中进行摇瓶发酵。实现了hTNFR1在大肠杆菌表达系统中的重组表达。但目的蛋白全部以包涵体的形式存在于沉淀中。为了提高hTNFR1在大肠杆菌中的可溶性表达,融合标签和分子伴侣两种策略被实施用于辅助hTNFR1的可溶性表达。结果表明,在hTNFR1的N端融合NusA标签后,hTNFR1的可溶性有一定提高;在NusA-hTNFR1基础上,过表达了7种分子伴侣,筛选出tig分子伴侣对hTNFR1蛋白可溶性表达有明显的促进作用,可溶性表达量约占总量的90％;对优化后的hTNFR1表达系统的可溶性蛋白进行Ni-NTA亲和层析纯化后,TEV蛋白酶酶切去除N端的NusA标签,结合Western blot分析鉴定,获得了大量高纯度的hTNFR1蛋白。研究结果为进一步研究hTNFR1的生理学活性及其在疾病治疗方面的应用奠定了良好基础。     

分子伴侣对可溶性肿瘤坏死因子相关促凋亡配体在巴斯德毕赤酵母中表达的影响

目的:提高外源蛋白可溶性肿瘤坏死因子相关促凋亡配体(sTRAIL)在巴斯德毕赤酵母中的分泌表达。方法:根据GenBank公共数据库中公布的模式生物酿酒酵母的分子伴侣(Ssa1p、YDJ1、Kar2p和PDI)基因序列设计引物,利用PCR方法从酿酒酵母基因组中得到各基因片段,并将单独Ssa1p或Kar2p、组合YDJ1 PDI、Kar2p PDI或YDJ1 PDI PDI分别构建到pPIB2Z表达载体中,并整合到外源蛋白sTRAIL工程菌(毕赤酵母GS115)中进行筛选和诱导表达。结果:SDS-PAGE分析表明,sTRAIL的表达量明显提高,特别是整合了分子伴侣组合YDJ1 PDI的工程菌。Western印迹分析整合的分子伴侣基因后,分子伴侣蛋白在工程菌中的表达量得到了提高。结论:提高细胞内分子伴侣的表达,可以增加外源蛋白的分泌表达,为进一步研究巴斯德毕赤酵母奠定了基础。     

重组毕赤酵母甲醇利用表型与基因拷贝数对外源基因表达的影响

毕赤酵母是目前最优秀的外源蛋白表达系统之一。本文着重对重组毕赤酵母甲醇利用表型（Mut+型、MutS型和Mut-型）、基因剂量对外源蛋白高效表达的影响机理进行综述。MutS型的比生长速率和蛋白产率比Mut+型低、发酵周期长、副产物（如乙醇、乙酸等）形成速率不同。外源基因拷贝数对外源蛋白的影响主要有三种情况：（1）高基因拷贝数对外源蛋白表达水平有明显的正效应作用;（2）基因拷贝数增加反而降低了表达水平,即负效应作用;（3）重组蛋白表达与基因剂正相关,之后则表现负相关关系,这可能与外源蛋白翻译后加工有关（如二硫键形成、折叠等）,而与分子伴侣共表达可促进外源蛋白的高表达。     

Mitochondrial localization of the threonine peptidase PfHslV, a ClpQ ortholog in Plasmodium falciparum

Plasmodium falciparum belongs to a group of eukaryotes expressing an ortholog of the prokaryotic T1-threonine peptidase, heat shock locus V (HslV). Bacterial HslV is a particularly well studied protease, due to its structural and biochemical similarity to the eukaryotic proteasome. Plasmodium falciparum HslV (PfHslV) is expressed in schizonts and merozoites of the asexual blood stage. Strong sequence conservation between plasmodial species, absence of HslV homologs in the human genome, and availability of specific inhibitors led us to explore its function and potential use as a drug target. In a first step, we investigated localization of PfHslV, using a bioinformatics approach and a transgenic P. falciparum line expressing a PfHslV-enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) fusion protein from the endogenous pfhslV locus. PfHslV-EYFP was found in the mitochondrial matrix under fluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy. Endogenous, non-modified PfHslV was present in purified mitochondria and interference with mitochondrial membrane potential by drug treatment led to impairment of PfHslV processing. Import of heterologous EYFP into the plasmodial mitochondrion is mediated by the N-terminal 37 amino acids of PfHslV. PfHslV’s targeting sequence is also functional in human cells, demonstrating strong conservation of mitochondrial targeting in eukaryotes. In conclusion, our data shows that PfHslV is located to the plasmodial mitochondrion and presumably has vital function within this organelle which makes it an attractive target for interventions.     

Engineering alternative butanol production platforms in heterologous bacteria

Alternative microbial hosts have been engineered as biocatalysts for butanol biosynthesis. The butanol synthetic pathway of Clostridium acetobutylicum was first re-constructed in Escherichia coli to establish a baseline for comparison to other hosts. Whereas polycistronic expression of the pathway genes resulted in the production of 34 mg/L butanol, individual expression of pathway genes elevated titers to 200 mg/L. Improved titers were achieved by co-expression of Saccharomyces cerevisiae formate dehydrogenase while overexpression of E. coli glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase to elevate glycolytic flux improved titers to 580 mg/L. Pseudomonas putida and Bacillus subtilis were also explored as alternative production hosts. Polycistronic expression of butanol biosynthetic genes yielded butanol titers of 120 and 24 mg/L from P. putida and B. subtilis, respectively. Production in the obligate aerobe P. putida was dependent upon expression of bcd-etfAB. These results demonstrate the potential of engineering butanol biosynthesis in a variety of heterologous microorganisms, including those cultivated aerobically.