Novel plasmid-based genetic tools for the study of promoters and terminators in Streptococcus pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis

Promoter-probe and terminator-probe plasmid vectors make possible to rapidly examine whether particular sequences function as promoter or terminator signals in various genetic backgrounds and under diverse environmental stimuli. At present, such plasmid-based genetic tools are very scarce in the Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis. Hence, we developed novel promoter-probe and terminator-probe vectors based on the Streptococcus agalactiae pMV158 plasmid, which replicates autonomously in numerous Gram-positive bacteria. As reporter gene, a gfp allele encoding a variant of the green fluorescent protein was used. These genetic tools were shown to be suitable to assess the activity of promoters and terminators (both homologous and heterologous) in S. pneumoniae and E. faecalis. In addition, the promoter-probe vector was shown to be a valuable tool for the analysis of regulated promoters in vivo, such as the promoter of the pneumococcal fuculose kinase gene. These new plasmid vectors will be very useful for the experimental verification of predicted promoter and terminator sequences, as well as for the construction of new inducible-expression vectors. Given the promiscuity exhibited by the pMV158 replicon, these vectors could be used in a variety of Gram-positive bacteria.     

A promoter-probe vector-host system for the cyanobacterium, Synechocystis PCC6803

A vector-host system for testing promoters in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803 has been constructed. It relies on a small Escherichia coli promoter-probe plasmid, pFF11, which has four unique restriction sites in a polylinker upstream from the cat reporter gene. This plasmid is able to obtain a cyanobacterial origin of replication by homologous recombination with the resident plasmid of the recipient host, generating a new E. coli-Synechocystis PCC6803 shuttle vector. This plasmid does not confer any detectable chloramphenicol acetyl transferase activity to this cyanobacterium in the absence of a promoter insert. Several heterologous promoters were tested in Synechocystis PCC6803 using this system. Results obtained with the lambda pR promoter and the repressor-encoding cI857 gene demonstrate that these elements can be used for high-level and tightly regulated gene expression in Synechocystis PCC6803.     

An insertion vector for the analysis of gene expression during herpes simplex virus infection

A herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) insertion vector, pGal8, was designed for analysis of herpesvirus promoters during virus infection. This vector contains a multiple cloning site (MCS) positioned at the 5' end of the lacZ gene for the insertion of promoter sequences. The MCS and lacZ are flanked by sequences from the HSV-1 thymidine kinase encoding gene (tk) to direct homologous recombination into the tk locus of the viral genome. The utility of this vector is demonstrated by construction and comparison of recombinant viruses that express lacZ from the promoters of the genes encoding glycoprotein C, glycoprotein H and glycoprotein E.     

谷氨酸棒杆菌/大肠杆菌穿梭型启动子探测载体构建

从质粒pXZ10145和pUC19出发,构建了一个谷氨酸棒杆菌/大肠杆菌穿梭载体pAK6。pAK6的大小为5684bp,带有卡那霉素和氨苄青霉素抗性选择标记,以及多克隆位点。在pAK6基础上,构建了以氯霉素乙酰转移酶为报告基因的启动子探测载体pAKC6,pAKC6的大小为6474bp。采用鸟枪法,将经Sau3AI消化的谷氨酸棒杆菌基因组片段连入pAKC6;根据谷氨酸棒杆菌对氯霉素的抗性,从中分离出两个具有启动子功能的插入片段。通过测定报告基因氯霉素乙酰转移酶的活性,对两个启动子片段在谷氨酸棒杆菌中的强度进行了初步的判断;测序后,用启动子预测软件对其结构进行了预测,证实了启动子序列的存在。     

Alkaline phosphatase reporter transposon for identification of genes encoding secreted proteins in gram-positive microorganisms

We describe the construction of TnFuZ, a genetic tool for the discovery and mutagenesis of proteins exported from gram-positive bacteria. This tool combines a transposable element (Tn4001) of broad host range in gram-positive bacteria and an alkaline phosphatase gene (phoZ) derived from a gram-positive bacterium that has been modified by removal of the region encoding its export signal. Mutagenesis of Streptococcus pyogenes with TnFuZ ("FuZ" stands for fusions to phoZ) identified genes encoding secreted proteins whose expression was enhanced during growth in an aerobic environment. Thus, TnFuZ should be valuable for analysis of protein secretion, gene regulation, and virulence in gram-positive bacteria.     

Construction and Application of a luxABCDE Reporter System for Real-Time Monitoring of Enterococcus faecalis Gene Expression and Growth

The present work describes the construction of a novel molecular tool for luciferase-based bioluminescence (BL) tagging of Enterococcus faecalis. To this end, a vector (pSL101) and its derivatives conferring a genetically encoded bioluminescent phenotype on all tested strains of E. faecalis were constructed. pSL101 harbors the luxABCDE operon from pPL2lux and the pREG696 broad-host-range replicon and axe-txe toxin-antitoxin cassette, providing segregational stability for long-term plasmid persistence in the absence of antibiotic selection. The bioluminescent signals obtained from three highly expressed promoters correlated linearly (R(2) > 0.98) with the viable-cell count. We employed lux-tagged E. faecalis strains to monitor growth in real time in milk and urine in vitro. Furthermore, bioluminescence imaging (BLI) was used to visualize the magnitude of the bacterial burden during infection in the Galleria mellonella model system. To our knowledge, pSL101 is the first substrate addition-independent reporter system developed for BLI of E. faecalis and an efficient tool for spatiotemporal tracking of bacterial growth and quantitative determination of promoter activity in real time, noninvasively, in infection model systems.     

酿酒酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae)基因启动子的分离和鉴定

用启动子探针型载体pFR109从酿酒酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae)总DNA中克隆到多个启动子片段,它们在大肠杆菌中均能启动β-半乳糖苷酶基因的表达。对其中Y8片段的进一步分析结果表明:该片段不仅来自酿酒酵母基因组,而且是以多拷贝的形式存在。当Y8片段再次转入供体酵母时,它仍能启动β-半乳糖苷酶基因表达,但经次克隆去掉Y8片段5′端部分顺序后,它就失去了启动子的功能。     

Plasmid vectors with a semi-synthetic beta-galactosidase gene of E. coli

A partial synthesis of a structural gene for beta-galactosidase and construction of a series of pLZ plasmids for quantitative study of E. coli promoters are reported. The gene was assembled of two short synthetic DNAs and of a 3000 bp long EcoRI fragment (comprising the lacZ sequence 16-3013) isolated from plasmid p198/1 of B. Gronenborn. Among the plasmids constructed, pLZ4 is a promoter-probe vector that contains the semi-synthetic gene fused with a synthetic Shine-Dalgarno sequence and preceded by unique EcoRI and KpnI cleavage sites. On cloning a promoter into these sites, its signal strength in vivo could easily be measured by assaying beta-galactosidase activity. The use of pLZ4 vector was demonstrated by quantifying the effect of T7 early promoters A1 and A2, the latter being found 4,5 times more active under the conditions employed.     

Gene for the alpha subunit of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase maps in the ribosomal protein gene cluster.

We isolated the gene encoding the alpha subunit of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase from a lambda gt11 expression vector library by using anti-alpha antibody as a probe. Four unique clones were isolated, one carrying a lacZ-alpha gene fusion and three carrying the entire alpha coding region together with additional sequences upstream. The identity of the cloned alpha gene was confirmed by the size and immunological reactivity of its product expressed in Escherichia coli. Further, a partial DNA sequence found the predicted NH2 terminus of alpha homologous with E. coli alpha. By plasmid integration and PBS1 transduction, we mapped alpha near rpsE and within the major ribosomal protein gene cluster on the B. subtilis chromosome. Additional DNA sequencing identified rpsM (encoding S13) and rpsK (encoding S11) upstream of alpha, followed by a 180-base-pair intercistronic region that may contain two alpha promoters. Although the organization of the alpha region resembles that of the alpha operon of E. coli, the putative promoters and absence of rpsD (encoding S4) immediately preceding the B. subtilis alpha gene suggest a different regulation.     

Chromosomal integration of the green fluorescent protein gene in lactic acid bacteria and the survival of marked strains in human gut simulations

An integration vector was constructed to allow introduction of the gfp gene into the chromosomes of Gram-positive bacteria. Integration depends on homologous recombination between a short 458-nt sequence of the tet(M) gene in the vector and a copy of Tn916 in the host chromosome. Strains of Lactococcus lactis IL1403, Enterococcus faecalis JH2-SS, and Streptococcus gordonii DL1 stably marked with single chromosomal copies of the gfp were readily visualised by epifluorescence microscopy. The marked L. lactis strain survived poorly in a continuous culture system inoculated with human faecal flora, while the laboratory E. faecalis strain was lost at approximately the dilution rate of the fermenter.