A promoter for Bacillus subtilis expression vector

A 117-bp EcoRI-PstI fragment with strong promoter activity (P1 promoter) was cloned from Bacillus subtilis chromosomal DNA and sequenced. The P1 promoter was shown to contain a putative -35 region (TTTACT) and -10 region (TAGATT), and promotes expression of cloned human interleukin-2 (IL-2) and human interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) genes in B. subtilis.     

Crystal structure of Bacillus subtilis signal peptide peptidase A

Signal peptide peptidase A (SppA) is a membrane-bound self-compartmentalized serine protease that functions to cleave the remnant signal peptides left behind after protein secretion and cleavage by signal peptidases. SppA is found in plants, archaea and bacteria. Here, we report the first crystal structure of a Gram-positive bacterial SppA. The 2.4-Å-resolution structure of Bacillus subtilis SppA (SppA_BS) catalytic domain reveals eight SppA_BS molecules in the asymmetric unit, forming a dome-shaped octameric complex. The octameric state of SppA_BS is supported by analytical size-exclusion chromatography and multi-angle light scattering analysis. Our sequence analysis, mutagenesis and activity assays are consistent with Ser147 serving as the nucleophile and Lys199 serving as the general base; however, they are located in different region of the protein, more than 29 Å apart. Only upon assembling the octamer do the serine and lysine come within close proximity, with neighboring protomers each providing one-half of the catalytic dyad, thus producing eight separate active sites within the complex, twice the number seen within Escherichia coli SppA (SppA_EC). The SppA_BS S1 substrate specificity pocket is deep, narrow and hydrophobic, but with a polar bottom. The S3 pocket, which is constructed from two neighboring proteins, is shallower, wider and more polar than the S1 pocket. A comparison of these pockets to those seen in SppA_EC reveals a significant difference in the size and shape of the S1 pocket, which we show is reflected in the repertoire of peptides the enzymes are capable of cleaving.     

New type of pullulanase from Bacillus stearothermophilus and molecular cloning and expression of the gene in Bacillus subtilis.

A new type of pullulanase which mainly produced panose from pullulan was found in Bacillus stearothermophilus and purified. The enzyme can hydrolyze pullulan efficiently and only hydrolyzes a small amount of starch. When pullulan was used as a substrate, the main product was panose and small amounts of glucose and maltose were simultaneously produced. By using pTB522 as a vector plasmid, the enzyme gene was cloned and expressed in Bacillus subtilis. Since the enzyme from the recombinant plasmid carrier could convert pullulan into not only panose but also glucose and maltose, we concluded that these reactions were due to the single enzyme. The new pullulanase, with a molecular weight of 62,000, was fairly thermostable. The optimum temperature was 60 to 65 degrees C, and about 90% of the enzyme activity was retained even after treatment at 60 degrees C for 60 min. The optimum pH for the enzyme was 6.0.     

Using inexpensive substrate to achieve high-level lipase A secretion by Bacillus subtilis through signal peptide and promoter screening

Lipase A exhibits great commercial value due to its applications in the food and paper industry, pharmaceutical chemistry and household chemicals. In this study, we first conducted a comparison of different signal peptides and promoters for the construction of the productive lipase A strain. The maximum extracellular lipase activity was identified as 64.9 U/mL after 12-h fermentation at 37 °C by B. subtilis L25 in which the lipase gene was led by SP_lipA and controlled by P₄₃-P_hag. Another aim was to determine whether supplementing a culture medium with a combination of glycerol and Streptomyces sp. SCUT-3 digested chicken feather hydrolysates was beneficial to lipase production. Systematic optimization experiments were designed and carried out. Finally, a satisfactory lipase level of 1164.9 U/mL was accomplished in Terrific-Broth medium at a C/N ratio of 0.5 (v/v). This work demonstrates the feasibility of B. subtilis L25 for lipase A industrial production using glycerol and microbes treated chicken feather hydrolysates as inexpensive carbon and nitrogen source.     

Cloning in Bacillus subtilis of temperature-dependent promoter fragments from Bacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus subtilis

Abstract Using promoter-probe plasmids, more than 200 promoter-containing fragments from Bacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus subtilis were cloned in B. subtilis . Among these, 15 promoter fragments were highly temperature-dependent in activity compared to the promoter sequence (TTGAAA for the −35 region, TATAAT for the −10 region) of the amylase gene, amyT , from B. stearothermophilus . Some fragments exhibited higher promoter activities at elevated temperature (48°C), others showed higher activities at lower temperature (30°C). Active promoter fragments at higher and lower temperatures were obtained mainly from the thermophile ( B. stearothermophilus ) and the mesophile ( B. subtilis ), respectively. A promoter fragment active at high temperature was sequenced, and the feature of the putative promoter region was discussed.     

Characterization of the secretion efficiency of a plant signal peptide in Bacillus subtilis.

Summary The ability of the Bacillus subtilis secretion machinery to interact with a heterologous signal peptide was studied using a plant (wheat -amylase) signal peptide. The plant signal peptide was capable of mediating secretion of Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase and B. amyloliquefaciens levansucrase from B. subtilis. This secretion was dependent on the plant signal peptide, as deletion of five amino acids from the hydrophobic core resulted in a block of secretion. Attempts to improve the efficiency of the plant signal peptide in B. subtilis were made by increasing the length of the hydrophobic core from 10 to 16 residues by insertion of 2, 4, 5 or 6 amino acids. None of the alterations improved the secretion efficiency relative to the wild-type plant signal peptide.     

普鲁兰酶基因在解淀粉芽孢杆菌BF7658菌株中的分泌表达

根据文献报道的核苷酸序列合成Bacillus deramificans普鲁兰酶成熟肽编码基因BdP。将BdP基因插入芽孢杆菌分泌表达载体pUC980信号肽编码区下游,获得重组质粒pUC980-BdP,重组质粒转化中温α-淀粉酶生产菌解淀粉芽孢杆菌BF7658菌株。摇瓶发酵实验表明,重组转化子发酵液有明显普鲁兰酶酶活,约48h酶活达到最高水平,为2．8ASPU／mL。酶学性质分析表明,重组酶最适作用温度约为60℃,最适反应pH为5．0,60℃保温3h仍保存50％的活性。重组酶性质适合淀粉糖化工艺的要求。     

Secreted expression of the pullulanase in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BF7658

根据文献报道的核苷酸序列合成Bacillus deramificans普鲁兰酶成熟肽编码基因BdP.将BdP基因插入芽孢杆菌分泌表达载体pUC980信号肽编码区下游,获得重组质粒pUC980-BdP,重组质粒转化中温α-淀粉酶生产菌解淀粉芽孢杆菌BF7658菌株.摇瓶发酵实验表明,重组转化子发酵液有明显普鲁兰酶酶活,约48 h酶活达到最高水平,为2.8 ASPU/mL.酶学性质分析表明,重组酶最适作用温度约为60℃,最适反应pH为5.0,60℃保温3h仍保存50％的活性.重组酶性质适合淀粉糖化工艺的要求.     

Signal peptide of Bacillus subtilis alpha-amylase

Mature alpha-amylase of Bacillus subtilis is known to be formed from its precursor by the removal of the NH2-terminal 41 amino acid sequence (41 amino acid leader sequence). DNA fragments coding for short sequences consisting of 28 (Pro as the COOH terminus) 29 (Ala), 31 (Ala), and 33 (Ala) amino acids from the translation initiator, Met, in the leader sequence were prepared and fused in frame to the DNA encoding the mature alpha-amylase. The secretion activity of the 33 amino acid sequence was nearly twice as high as that of the parental 41 amino acid sequence, whereas the activity of the 31 amino acid sequence was 75% of that of the parent. In contrast, almost no secretion activity was observed with the 28 and 29 amino acid sequences. The signal peptide cleavage site of the precursor expressed from the plasmid encoding the 33 amino acid sequence was located between Ala and Leu at positions 33 and 34 and that from the 31 amino acid sequence between Thr and Ala at positions 33 and 34. The NH2-terminal amino acid from the latter corresponded to the 3rd amino acid of the mature enzyme. These results indicated that the functional signal peptide of the B. subtilis beta-amylase consists of the first 33 amino acids from the initiator, Met.     

Extracellular expression of pullulanase from Bacillus naganoensis in Escherichia coli

The pullulanase encoding gene from Bacillus naganoensis was successfully overexpressed in Escherichia coli both intracellularly and extracellularly using expression vector pET22b (+). The distribution of recombinant protein was significantly affected by temperature and carbon and nitrogen sources. The highest levels of extracellular and intracellular production of the target protein were observed at 25 and 20 °C, respectively. The addition of maltose, dextrin, pullulan, and soluble starch to the culture medium caused significant increases in the extracellular yield of pullulanase, while glucose strongly inhibited pullulanase production. The results show that the optimal conditions for maximum yield of extracellular pullulanase required high levels of carbon source and a limited nitrogen supply, while low concentrations of carbon and nitrogen source favored intracellular pullulanase expression. High concentrations of nitrogen source strongly inhibited the production of pullulanase.     

Prochymosin expression in Bacillus subtilis

Prochymosin (PC) sequence was cloned in Bacillus subtilis using two kinds of plasmid constructions. In plasmid pSM316 the cDNA was inserted to obtain the intracellular expression of the enzyme. The enzyme turned out to be expressed in an insoluble form which could be converted to native enzyme under proper denaturing and refolding conditions. The levels of intracellular expression of PC were further enhanced by modifying the 5' region of the gene in a way that a two-cistron expression system was created. For the PC secretion, the cDNA was fused to the subtilisin leader sequence and expressed under the control of the B. subtilis neutral protease promoter. A properly folded PC was secreted by the cells, although to low levels.