Modelling the stability of the pBR322 plasmid derivative pBB210 in Escherichia coli TG1 under non-selective and selective conditions

A mathematical model has been developed to describe the stability behaviour of the pBR322 plasmid derivative pBB210 with the β-lactamase gene and the human interferon-α1 gene in Escherichia coli TG1 under non-selective, selective and modified selective conditions in a chemostat. The model was formulated on the basis of experimental investigations. It includes the interaction between β-lactam antibiotics (ampicillin and sulbactam) and cells (with and without plasmids), in particular the correlation between the growth rate of plasmid-free cells and ampicillin concentration in the medium; ampicillin transport into the periplasm of the plasmid-bearing cells; ampicillin degradation in the periplasm by by plasmid-encoded β-lactamase and the inhibition of the latter by sulbactam. The results obtained by the simulation of chemostat cultivations under various conditions and by steady state analyses are closely related to the results of experiments. Under non-selective conditions, the fraction of plasmid-bearing cells was approaching zero. Under selective and modified selective conditions, a coexistence between plasmid-free and plasmid-bearing cells was reached at steady state. Under these conditions, the steady state fraction of plasmid-bearing cells was proportional to the ampicillin concentration in the feed and inversely proportional to the cell concentration in the chemostat. During high-density cultivation, a large amount of ampicillin is necessary to suppress plasmid-free cells. Even small concentrations of the β-lactamase inhibitor sulbactam in the feed increased the steady state fraction of plasmid-bearing cells (from 17.2% to 99.6% at sulbactam-Na concentrations of 0 to 5 mg/l).     

Enhanced plasmid stability through post-segregational killing of plasmid-free cells

Summary In order to develop an extremely stable, inducible host/vector system, the following genetic manipulations were made: a recA mutation was introduced into the chromosome of the host strain, the plasmid selectable marker was changed from ampicillin to kanamycin, and the parB stability locus of plasmid R1 was added to the plasmid. The stability of the new vector, pTKW106, was increased such that the fraction of plasmid-bearing cells present during chemostat fermentations under selective pressure increased from 1.75% to 100% when plasmid protein production was fully induced. At this level of induction, -galactosidase represents 10% of the total cell protein. In addition, the frequency of generation of plasmid-free cells was shown to decrease from 1.0 per generation to less than 10^–11 with full promoter induction under non-selective conditions.     

In VitroMeasurement of β-Lactamase-Catalyzed Ampicillin Hydrolysis by RecombinantEscherichia coliExtracts Using Quantitative High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

We report a rapid and simple protocol for measuring the β-lactamase activity from recombinantEscherichia colicells transformed with any of the common plasmid vectors that provide ampicillin resistance through constitutive expression and periplasmic localization of the β-lactamase TEM-1. The hydrolytic enzyme was extracted from theE. coliperiplasm and the β-lactamase activity determined by measuring conversion of ampicillin to aminobenzyl-penicilloic acid using quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography. Under saturating conditions thein vitroassay was linear as a function of both incubation time and enzyme concentration. Application of this assay to investigate TEM-1 expression, from two different protein expression vector systems, demonstrated the potential importance of this assay in studies of recombinant protein expression and translocation.     

Secretion of active β-lactamase to the medium mediated by the Escherichia coli haemolysin transport pathway

An in frame gene fusion containing the coding region for mature β-lactamase and the 3′-end of hylA encoding the haemolysin secretion signal, was constructed under the control of a lac promoter. The resulting 53 kDa hybrid protein was specifically secreted to the external medium in the presence of the haemolysin translocator proteins, HlyB and HlyD. The specific activity of the β-lactamase portion of the secreted protein (measured by the hydrolysis of penicillin G), approximately 1 U/μg protein, was close to that of authentic, purified TEM-β-lactamase. This is an important example of a hybrid protein that is enzymatically active, and secreted via the haemolysin pathway. Previous studies have indicated that haemolysin is secreted directly into the medium, bypassing the periplasm, to which β-lactamase is normally targeted. This study indicated, therefore, that normal folding of an active β-lactamase, can occur, at least when fused to the HlyA C-terminus, without the necessity of entering the periplasm. Despite the secretion of approximately 5 μg/ml levels of the active β-lactamase fusion into the medium, there was maximally only a 50% detectable increase in the LD₅₀ for resistance to ampicillin at the individual cell level. This result suggests that, normally, resistance to ampicillin requires a high concentration of the enzyme close to killing targets, i.e. in the periplasm, in order to achieve significant levels of protection.     

β-Lactamase Formation and Resistance of Proteus morganii to Various Penicillins and Cephalosporins

Ten strains of Proteus morganii were selected and the production of β-lactamase was studied. The cellular level of β-lactamase from P. morganii was regulated by the concentration of the inducer in the growth media, and the enzyme activity appeared within 10 min while its highest value was obtained 2 hr after the addition of benzylpenicillin as the inducer. The resistance level to cephaloridine was generally related to the amount of β-lactamase activity among the ten strains of P. morganii, but no relation was found between the ampicillin susceptibilities and the amounts of β-lactamase in their cell-free preparations. The maximum rate of hydrolysis of cephalosporin C and several other derivatives of 7-aminocephalosporanic acid by a crude enzyme was five times higher than that of benzylpenicillin. Semisynthetic penicillins were resistant to hydrolysis and exhibited competitive inhibition. Among the semisynthetic penicillins, dicloxacillin and carbenicillin were powerful competitive inhibitors of the β-lactamase from P. morganii.     

Estimating the instability parameters of plasmid-bearing cells. I. Chemostat culture

What determines the stability of plasmid-bearing cells in natural and laboratory conditions? In order to answer this question in a quantitative manner, we need tools allowing the estimation of parameters governing plasmid loss in different environments. In the present work, we have developed two methods for the estimation of the instability parameters of plasmid-bearing cells growing in chemostat. These instability parameters are: (i) selection coefficient (or cost of the plasmid)alpha and (ii) the probability of plasmid loss at cell division tau(0). We have found that generally selection coefficient alpha changes during elimination of plasmid-bearing cells due to changes in substrate concentration; hence, methods which assume constancy of alpha are intrinsically imprecise. Instead, one can estimate selection coefficient at the beginning and the end of cultivation when the substrate concentration is approximately constant. Applying developed techniques to two sets of experimental data, we have found that (i) the cost of the plasmid pBR322 depended on the dilution rate in chemostat and was higher at low dilutions; (ii) high levels of plasmid gene expression led to a high cost of the plasmid pPHL-7; (iii) the probability of plasmid loss was lower at high levels of plasmid gene expression and independent of the dilution rate. We have also discussed the application of our results to understanding the basic biology of bacterial plasmids.     

Continuous recombinant bacterial fermentations utilizing selective flocculation and recycle.

Selective recycle has successfully been used to maintain an unstable plasmid-bearing bacterial strain as dominant in a continuous reactor, whereas the culture reverts to 100% segregant cells when selective recycle is not used. The plasmid-bearing strain is slower growing and flocculent; however, when the cells lose their plasmid, the resulting segregant cells are nonflocculent and grow at a faster rate due to their decreased metabolic burden. Both types of cells exit a chemostat and enter an inclined settler where the flocculent plasmid-bearing cells are separated from the nonflocculent segregant cells by differential sedimentation. The underflow from the cell separator, which is enriched with plasmid-bearing cells, is recycled back to the chemostat, while the segregant cells are withdrawn off the top of the settler and discarded. The experimental results agree well with selective recycle reactor theory. On the basis of the theory, a criterion is presented that has been shown to successfully predict whether or not a selective recycle reactor can maintain a plasmid-bearing strain.     

Stability of plasmid pBR 322 in escherichia coli nf 161 (rela+) and nf 162 (rel a) grown in a methionine limited chemostat

The stability of the plasmid pBR 322 was measured in E. coli NF 161 (rel A⁺) and NF 162 (rel A) grown in a methionine limited chemostat. A significant plasmid loss occurred only in E. coli NF 162 at a low dilution rate and if the fermenter had been inoculated with cells from the stationary phase. Obviously, this behaviour resulted from the high expression of β-lactamase due to amplification of the pBR 322 DNA in the inoculum cells of E. coli NF162.     

Selectable marker recycling in the chloroplast

The bacterial geneaadA is an important and widely used selectable marker for manipulation of the chloroplast genome through biolistic transformation. Because no other such marker is available, two strategies for recycling of theaadA cassette have been developed. One utilizes homologous recombination between two direct repeats flanking theaadA cassette to allow its loss under non-selective growth conditions. A second strategy is to perform co-transformation with a plasmid containing a modified, non-essential chloroplast gene and another plasmid in which theaadA cassette disrupts a chloroplast gene known to be essential for survival. Under selective growth conditions the first mutation can be transferred to all chloroplast DNA copies whereas theaadA insertion remains heteroplasmic. Loss of the selectable marker can be achieved subsequently by growing the cells on non-selective media. In both cases it is possible to reuse theaadA cassette for the stepwise disruption or mutagenesis of any gene in the same strain.     

大肠埃希菌高产AmpC酶的检测及耐药性分析

目的了解深圳市人民医院高产AmpC酶大肠埃希菌的存在现状及其耐药性。方法采用Tris-ED-TA纸片裂菌法检测148株大肠埃希菌的AmpC酶。用琼脂稀释法测定产酶株对11种抗生素的最低抑菌浓度（MIC）。结果 148株大肠埃希菌中6株检出AmpC酶,检出率为4.1%。所有产AmpC酶大肠埃希菌对亚胺培南敏感,MIC为0.12～0.25μg/ml;对头孢吡肟的MIC值也较低,为0.5～32.0μg/ml,仅1株耐头孢吡肟。所有产AmpC酶大肠埃希菌对头孢西丁耐药,MIC为32～128μg/ml;对氨苄西林/舒巴坦、阿莫西林/克拉维酸和哌拉西林/他唑巴坦等加酶抑制剂复合物耐药性较强。结论深圳市人民医院大肠埃希菌高产AmpC酶检出率为4.1%。产酶株对多种抗生素耐药性较高。     

Persistence and expression of the plasmid pBR322 inEscherichia coli K12 cultured in complex medium

Summary The stability and gene expression of plasmid pBR322 in a chemostat with complex non-selective medium at different dilution rates were studied. It was observed that pBR322 was eventually lost from the population after a long lag period. The rate of plasmid loss decreases with decreasing dilution rate. This result is different from those obtained with cells grown in defined medium, where plasmid loss was observed to decrease with increasing dilution rate. In addition, it was observed that the -lactamase activity per ml per optical density of cell culture, independent of the dilution rates, increases with time and reaches a maximum around 4.5 units after 100 hrs of continuous culture.     

Liposome-mediated DNA transfer in eukaryotic cells: Dependence of the transfer efficiency upon the type of liposomes used and the host cell cycle stage

The pBR322 plasmid containing the sequence encoding β-lactamase, the enzyme conferring resistance to ampicillin, was encapsulated in liposomes of different phospholipid composition and incubated with synchronized cells. In mitotic cells as compared to cells synchronized in G₁, twice as many exogeneous DNA molecules were found associated with the cell nuclear DNA, when fluid, neutral liposomes were used. These liposomes are taken up by the cells mainly via endocytosis. When fluid, negatively charged liposomes were used as carriers about the same number of exogeneous DNA molecules were found associated with the nuclear DNA both in mitotic and in G₁-synchronized cells. The efficiency for gene transfer of liposomes entering the cells by different mechanisms was further studied and expressed both by the fraction of the radioactive plasmid associated with the nuclear DNA and by the level of the β-lactamase activity detected in the transfected cells. It appears that liposomes entering the cells mainly via an energy-dependent mechanism are more efficient for this type of DNA transfer.     

Stability of a recombinant plasmid carrying a-amylase gene in Bacillus subtilis

Plasmid pSB6 is a streptococcal recombinant plasmid carrying the a-amylase gene of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and the chloramphenicol resistance gene. The segregational and structural instabilities of this plasmid were examined under non-selective conditions in Bacillus subtilis. These instabilities were modelled according to a kinetic expression derived from the difference in the growth between plasmid-bearing and plasmid-free cells. This plasmid showed slight segregational instability and much higher levels of structural instability under the conditions examined.     

Stability of a recombinant plasmid carrying a-amylase gene in Bacillus subtilis

Plasmid pSB6 is a streptococcal recombinant plasmid carrying the a-amylase gene of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and the chloramphenicol resistance gene. The segregational and structural instabilities of this plasmid were examined under non-selective conditions in Bacillus subtilis. These instabilities were modelled according to a kinetic expression derived from the difference in the growth between plasmid-bearing and plasmid-free cells. This plasmid showed slight segregational instability and much higher levels of structural instability under the conditions examined.     

Increase of the antimicrobial susceptibility ofYersinia enterocolitica associated with the expression of the virulence plasmid

Virulent strains ofYersinia enterocolitica incubated in RPMI 1640 medium with 25 mM HEPES at 37°C were more susceptible to several antibiotics than their plasmid-free isogenic derivatives. The enumeration of viable bacteria in RPMI 1640 agar at 37°C to discriminate between plasmid-bearing and spontaneously derived, plasmid-free bacteria made it possible to show that the plasmid presence was associated with a fourfold decrease of minimal inhibitory concentration of ampicillin, streptomycin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, and oxytetracycline. SinceY. enterocolitica is an intracellular pathogen and RPMI 1640 medium mimics the intracellular milieu, the plasmid-associated increase of susceptibility to antibiotics that are concentrated by animal cells may be of clinical relevance.     

Population dynamics of a continuous fermentation of recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae using flow cytometry

The plasmid instability of genetically modified microorganisms during prolonged bioreactor operations is one of the major problems to be overcome in the production of recombinant proteins. The use of flow cytometry to monitor a fermentation process with recombinant cells in a CSTR is reported here. This technique has been applied to determine the fraction of plasmid-bearing cells (P+) of a recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain harboring the EXG1 gene in a continuous stirred tank bioreactor with a working volume of 2 L. The different levels in the expression of the EXG1 gene, which encodes the enzyme exo-beta-glucanase, were used to determine the P+ fraction. Other parameters such as viability, cellular protein, cell size and structure were also monitored using flow cytometry. This technique has two main advantages over the conventional method of determining the P+ fraction (plating in selective and non-selective solid media): (a) it takes a very short period of time to obtain a measurement that provides multiple parametric information; and (b) it is more representative of the bioreactor cell population since it can analyze thousands of cells in the same sample. A continuous operation (432 h) with the recombinant strain in a CSTR was carried out to test the application of this technique. Measurements of cellular exo-beta-glucanase activity and cellular protein content closely correlates to the measured fraction of plasmid-containing cells in the population. Moreover, the standard deviation of the fraction of P+ cells determined using this technique was very low (about 2%). Recombinant protein production also increased the size of the yeast cells, whereas the recombinant cells also had a more complex internal structure than the non-recombinant host strain.     

Evolution of antibiotic resistance: several different amino acid substitutions in an active site loop alter the substrate profile of β-lactamase

In order to understand how TEM-1 β-lactamase substrate specificity can be altered by mutation, amino acid residues 161 through to 170 were randomly mutagenized to sample all possible amino acid substitutions. The 161–170 region includes a portion of an omega loop structure, which is involved in the formation of the active-site pocket. The percentage of random sequences that provide bacterial resistance to either ampicillin or to the extended-spectrum cephalosporin ceftazidime was determined. It was found that the sequence requirements for wild-type levels of ampicillin resistance are much more stringent than the sequence requirements for ceftazidime resistance. Surprisingly, more than 50% of all amino acid substitutions in the 161-170 region result in levels of ceftazidime resistance at least three times greater than wild type. In addition, by increasing the level of the selection for ceftazidime resistance, substitutions that result in a greater than 100-fold increase in ceftazidime resistance were identified. Characterization of altered β-lactamase enzymes indicated that while their catalytic efficiency (K_cat/K_m) for ceftazidime hydrolysis is higher, the enzymes are poorly expressed relative to wild-type TEM-1 β-lactamase.     

Selecting and designing cell lines for improved physiological characteristics

We have developed several approaches to create cell lines with improved characteristics in cell culture. In some cases it has been possible to isolate natural variants with useful properties. Cholesterol independent variants of the mouse NSO myeloma cell line were isolated by cloning in a selective medium. A glutamine independent variant of a hyridoma was isolated by continuous (chemostat) culture under glutamine limited conditions in the presence of glutamate. Choline independent cells were isolated from a choline limited chemostat. In an alternative approach to modifying cell behaviour, we have used recombinant DNA techniques to introduce the glutamine synthetase (GS) gene to a hybridoma. This resulted in glutamine independence and increased productivity.     

产ESBLs肺炎克雷伯菌AmpC酶的检测及耐药性分析

目的了解深圳市人民医院产ESBLs肺炎克雷伯菌中产AmpC酶的情况及其耐药性。方法收集产ESBLs肺炎克雷伯菌临床株126株,应用Tris-EDTA纸片法检测AmpC酶。用琼脂稀释法测定菌株对11种抗生素的最低抑菌浓度（MIC）。结果126株ESBLs阳性的肺炎克雷伯菌中12株检出AmpC酶,检出率为9.5%。AmpC阳性菌株对头孢西丁、头孢他啶、氨曲南、氨苄西林/舒巴坦和阿莫西林/克拉维酸的耐药率达100%,对阿米卡星和哌拉西林/他唑巴坦的耐药率分别为83.3%和33.3%,其中头孢西丁、头孢他啶、氨曲南、阿莫西林/克拉维酸、阿米卡星和哌拉西林/他唑巴坦的耐药率显著高于AmpC阴性株（P〈0.05）。结论深圳市人民医院产ESBLs肺炎克雷伯菌中检出AmpC酶阳性株,其耐药性强于单产ESBLs菌株。