Characterization of a pH-inducible promoter system for high-level expression of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli

A pH-inducible promoter system was characterized and its potential applicability in recombinant protein production was evaluated using a plasmid construct, pSM552-545C(-), in which the promoter and activator coding sequences of the cad operon were inserted into the upstream region of a lacZ' reporter gene. Graded gene expression levels with respect to culture pH between 8.0 and 5.5 were observed and the induction range can be as high as 200-fold. The effects of several cultivation parameters, including pH, temperature, induction cell density, and inoculum size, were systematically examined. The practical application of this expression system to high level production of recombinant proteins was successfully demonstrated using a rich medium, superbroth. An extremely high recombinant protein productivity at a value of approximately 1.4 g/L with a specific expression level as high as 35% of total cellular protein can be obtained in a simple batch cultivation. The behavior of this expression system was further investigated using chemostat cultures. An uncommon relationship between the volumetric or specific recombinant protein activity and the dilution rate, with a maximal activity at a dilution rate of approximately 0.4 h(-1)was observed. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

大肠杆菌K-12转醛醇酶基因talB的克隆及在运动发酵单胞菌CP4中的表达

研究了E.coliK-12转醛醇酶基因(talB)在自身启动子和在Z.mobilisCP4eno基因启动子的启动下在E.coliDH5α和Z.mobilisCP4中的表达情况。首先克隆了E.coliK-12talB基因,并连接到穿梭载体pZB1上构建成pZB1-talB;然后利用PCR重叠延伸技术将E.coliK-12talB自身的启动子换成Z.mobilisCP4eno的启动子,构建得到pZB1-Peno-talB。将这两个质粒分别转化E.coliDH5α和Z.mobilisCP4。对转化子粗酶液进行的转醛醇酶酶活力测定结果表明,E.coli talB自身启动子和Z.mobilis eno启动子能以基本相同的效率启动talB基因在E.coli和Z.mobilis中的表达。     

Characterization of an oxygen-dependent inducible promoter,the Escherichia coli nar promoter,in gram-negative host strains

The Escherichia coli nar promoter is maximally induced under anaerobic conditions in the presence of nitrate ion or under anaerobic only conditions, depending on the genotype of the E. coli nar promoter. Previously, we found that the E. coli nar promoter has some desirable characteristics as an inducible promoter in the E. coli host strains. In this study, the E. coli nar promoter with lacZ gene at the downstream was cloned onto a broad-host-range Gram-negative vector, pBBR122. It was then induced in some other Gram-negative host strains, such as Agrobacterium, Pseudomonas, and Rhizobium, to determine whether the E. coli nar promoter could be used as an inducible promoter in these strains. From shake-flask experiments it was found that the wild-type E. coli nar promoter cloned onto pBBR122, pNW61, was suppressed under aerobic conditions in an Agrobacterium host strain, was partially induced under microaerobic only conditions, and was maximally induced under microaerobic conditions in the presence of nitrate ion. Whereas the mutant-type E. coli nar promoter cloned onto pBBR122, pNW618, was suppressed under aerobic conditions and was maximally induced under microaerobic conditions, regardless of the presence of nitrate ion. This kind of induction pattern observed for the E. coli nar promoters in the Agrobacterium host strain was similar to that observed for the E. coli nar promoters in the E. coli host strain. On the other hand, it was found that both of the E. coli nar promoters, pNW61 and pNW618, in a Pseudomonas host strain were partially induced under aerobic conditions and were maximally induced under microaerobic conditions, regardless of the presence of nitrate. Finally, it was found that both of the E. coli nar promoters in a Rhizobium host strain were minimally induced, regardless of the presence of oxygen or nitrate ion. Similar induction patterns for the three strains were also observed from fermentor experiments in which the dissolved oxygen (DO) level was tightly controlled. From an evolutionary point of view, the results from the three Gram-negative host strains indicate that the E. coli nar promoter system, including the promoter and regulatory proteins, was best conserved in the Agrobacterium host strain and the least conserved in the Rhizobium host strain. From an industrial point of view, the results indicate that the E. coli nar promoter system can be used as an oxygen-dependent inducible promoter in both Agrobacterium and Pseudomonas host strains.     

SUMO基因的内在原核启动子活性及其在大肠杆菌蛋白表达系统中的应用

SUMO融合系统已成为目前大肠杆菌重组蛋白生产的重要手段,但在载体构建效率和蛋白可溶性等方面仍有待改进。本研究在PCR克隆酿酒酵母SUMO基因Smt3(Sm) 时意外发现Sm具有组成型原核启动子活性;而且经软莓BPROM程序预测发现大多数物种SUMO基因编码区都具有依赖s70的原核启动子。进一步通过整合Sm启动子和Sm 3￠末端StuⅠ位点特性以及引入His标签和超酸增溶标签,构建了基于Sm’-LacZα融合基因的一系列通用克隆表达载体,并通过蓝白斑筛选和SDS-PAGE分析进行了多个靶蛋白基因的克隆和表     

Penicillin-binding proteins of pathogenic Escherichia coli strains

The penicillin-binding proteins of 11 pathogenic Escherichia coli strains, including enteropathogenic, enterotoxigenic, enteroinvasive, enteroaggregative, and enterohemorrhagic E. coli, were detected in gels following the labeling of isolated cell envelopes with [³H]benzylpenicillin. The electrophoretic profiles, sensitivities to and morphological changes induced by β-lactam antibiotics showed that the penicillin-binding proteins of most pathogenic E. coli possess structural and physiological functions similar to those of E. coli K12.     

大肠杆菌周质蛋白提取工艺的改进

介绍一种简捷高效的大肠杆菌周质蛋白提取工艺,即用含一定浓度溶菌酶的细胞裂解缓冲液一步提取周质蛋白,与传统的高渗和低渗两步提取法相比,不仅操作简单快捷,并且显著的提高了大肠杆菌周质蛋白的提取率.     

Improved glutathione production by gene expression in Escherichia coli

AIMS: To improve glutathione (GSH) production in Escherichia coli by different genetic constructions containing GSH genes. METHODS AND RESULTS: GSH production was very low in E. coli by the expression of gshI gene. An increase of GSH production was achieved by the expression of both gshI and gshII genes in E. coli. A higher GSH production, namely 34.8 mg g(-1) wet cell weight, was obtained by simultaneous expression of two copies of gshI gene and one copy of gshII gene. CONCLUSIONS: The simultaneous expression of two copies of gshI gene and one copy of gshII gene resulted in a significant increase in GSH production. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The expression strategy for GSH production described here can be used to increase gene expression and obtain high production rates in other multienzyme reaction systems.     

盐生盐杆菌RM07 DNA片段在大肠杆菌中的定点诱变和启动子功能分析

将来源于嗜盐古生菌——盐生盐杆菌(Halobacterium halobium)基因组的RM07 DNA片段以正反两个方向分别插入大肠杆菌启动子探针载体pKK232-8携带的报告基因——氯霉素抗性基因(cat)的上游,得到RM07-cat融合的质粒pRM07-1( )和pRM07-1(-),将其分别转入大肠杆菌HB101,进而检测了不同转化子菌株的氯霉素抗性水平和细胞内氯霉素乙酰转移酶蛋白质浓度。结果表明：正向的RM07片段在真细菌(大肠杆菌)中具有启动子活性,能够驱动cat报告基因的表达;而反向的RM07片段在大肠杆菌中不具有启动子活性。对RM07片段进行了定点诱变分析,检测了特定核苷酸突变对启动子活性的影响,结果进一步精确定位了RM07片段中对在大肠杆菌中的启动子功能有重要作用的关键碱基,并且通过改造RM07片段的碱基组成成分大幅提高了其在大肠杆菌中的启动子活性。     

大肠杆菌色氨酸转运系统多基因敲除对色氨酸生产的影响

大肠杆菌中色氨酸向胞内的转运主要是由mtr、tnaB和aroP 3个基因编码的通透酶进行调控.利用Red重组技术,在mtr单基因敲除菌的基础上,成功构建了mtr.tnaB和mtr.aroP双基因敲除菌以及mtr.tnaB.aroP三基因敲除菌,并通过发酵实验首次考察了色氨酸转运系统多基因缺失对大肠杆菌合成色氨酸的影响.发酵结果表明,mtr.tnaB和mtr.aroP双基因缺失后,色氨酸产量分别达到1.38 g/L和1.27 g/L,与出发菌株相比分别提高了17％和9％,而mtr.tnaB.aroP三基因缺失后,菌体生长受到了明显抑制,发酵后色氨酸产量仅为0.63 g/L.在补料分批发酵实验中,mtr.tnaB双基因敲除菌的色氨酸产量进一步提高至12.2 g/L,与出发菌株相比色氨酸产量提高了27％.     

Proteome-based identification of fusion partner for high-level extracellular production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli

Extracellular production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli has several advantages over cytoplasmic or periplasmic production. However, nonpathogenic laboratory strains of E. coli generally excrete only trace amounts of proteins into the culture medium under normal growth conditions. Here we report a systematic proteome-based approach for developing a system for high-level extracellular production of recombinant proteins in E. coli. First, we analyzed the extracellular proteome of an E. coli B strain, BL21(DE3), to identify naturally excreted proteins, assuming that these proteins may serve as potential fusion partners for the production of recombinant proteins in the medium. Next, overexpression and excretion studies were performed for the 20 selected fusion partners with molecular weights below 40 kDa. Twelve of them were found to allow fused proteins to excrete into the medium at considerable levels. The most efficient excreting fusion partner, OsmY, was used as a carrier protein to excrete heterologous proteins into the medium. E. coli alkaline phosphatase, Bacillus subtilis alpha-amylase, and human leptin used as model proteins could all be excreted into the medium at concentrations ranging from 5 to 64 mg/L during the flask cultivation. When only the signal peptide or the mature part of OsmY was used as a fusion partner, no such excretion was observed; this confirmed that these proteins were truly excreted rather than released by outer membrane leakage. The recombinant protein of interest could be recovered by cleaving off the fusion partner by enterokinase as demonstrated for alkaline phosphatase as an example. High cell density cultivation allowed production of these proteins to the levels of 250-700 mg/L in the culture medium, suggesting the good potential of this approach for the excretory production of recombinant proteins.     

Dissecting the roles of Escherichia coli hydrogenases in biohydrogen production.

Escherichia coli can perform at least two modes of anaerobic hydrogen metabolism and expresses at least two types of hydrogenase activity. Respiratory hydrogen oxidation is catalysed by two 'uptake' hydrogenase isoenzymes, hydrogenase -1 and -2 (Hyd-1 and -2), and fermentative hydrogen production is catalysed by Hyd-3. Harnessing and enhancing the metabolic capability of E. coli to perform anaerobic mixed-acid fermentation is therefore an attractive approach for bio-hydrogen production from sugars. In this work, the effects of genetic modification of the genes encoding the uptake hydrogenases, as well as the importance of preculture conditions, on hydrogen production and fermentation balance were examined. In suspensions of resting cells pregrown aerobically with formate, deletions in Hyd-3 abolished hydrogen production, whereas the deletion of both uptake hydrogenases improved hydrogen production by 37% over the parent strain. Under fermentative conditions, respiratory H2 uptake activity was absent in strains lacking Hyd-2. The effect of a deletion in hycA on H2 production was found to be dependent upon environmental conditions, but H2 uptake was not significantly affected by this mutation.     

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the production of fumaric acid

Fumaric acid is a naturally occurring organic acid that is an intermediate of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Fungal species belonging to Rhizopus have traditionally been employed for the production of fumaric acid. In this study, Escherichia coli was metabolically engineered for the production of fumaric acid under aerobic condition. For the aerobic production of fumaric acid, the iclR gene was deleted to redirect the carbon flux through the glyoxylate shunt. In addition, the fumA, fumB, and fumC genes were also deleted to enhance fumaric acid formation. The resulting strain was able to produce 1.45 g/L of fumaric acid from 15 g/L of glucose in flask culture. Based on in silico flux response analysis, this base strain was further engineered by plasmid‐based overexpression of the native ppc gene, encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PPC), from the strong tac promoter, which resulted in the production of 4.09 g/L of fumaric acid. Additionally, the arcA and ptsG genes were deleted to reinforce the oxidative TCA cycle flux, and the aspA gene was deleted to block the conversion of fumaric acid into L ‐aspartic acid. Since it is desirable to avoid the use of inducer, the lacI gene was also deleted. To increase glucose uptake rate and fumaric acid productivity, the native promoter of the galP gene was replaced with the strong trc promoter. Fed‐batch culture of the final strain CWF812 allowed production of 28.2 g/L fumaric acid in 63 h with the overall yield and productivity of 0.389 g fumaric acid/g glucose and 0.448 g/L/h, respectively. This study demonstrates the possibility for the efficient production of fumaric acid by metabolically engineered E. coli. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013; 110: 2025–2034. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

大肠杆菌酪氨酸转运系统基因敲除对酪氨酸生产的影响

酪氨酸是三大芳香族氨基酸之一,广泛用于食品、医药和化工等领域。转运系统工程为代谢工程改造大肠杆菌选育酪氨酸生产菌株提供了一种重要的研究策略。大肠杆菌中酪氨酸胞内转运主要通过aroP和tyrP基因编码的通透酶进行调控。以酪氨酸生产菌株HGXP为出发菌株,利用CRISPR-Cas9技术成功构建了aroP和tyrP基因敲除菌,并通过发酵试验考察了调节转运系统对酪氨酸生产的影响。发酵结果表明,aroP和tyrP基因敲除菌酪氨酸产量分别达到3.74 g/L和3.45 g/L,较出发菌株酪氨酸产量分别提高了19%和10%。对诱导温度进行了优化,结果表明38℃为最佳诱导温度。在3 L发酵罐上进行了补料分批发酵,aroP和tyrP基因敲除菌酪氨酸产量进一步提高至44.5 g/L和35.1 g/L,较出发菌株酪氨酸产量分别提高了57%和24%。研究结果对代谢工程强化大肠杆菌生产酪氨酸具有重要的参考价值。     

代谢工程改造大肠杆菌合成羟基酪醇

羟基酪醇是重要精细化学品,作为天然抗氧化剂被广泛应用于食品、医药领域.利用合成生物学技术生产羟基酪醇具有重要意义.本文克隆并功能鉴定了来源于大肠杆菌Escherichia coli BL21的羟化酶编码基因HpaBC,结果表明该酶的两个亚基均能成功表达并能催化酪醇生成羟基酪醇.通过CRISPR-Cas9技术将由tac启...     

A method of enhancing verocytotoxin production by Escherichia coli

The number of verocytotoxin producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) present in the faeces during an infection may be very low, making their detection difficult. We report a method for enhancing toxin production by VTEC using mitomycin C as an inducing agent with the aim of improving the detection of VTEC. In pure culture, mitomycin C enhanced toxin production up to 100-fold. When applied to mixed faecal culture, toxin could be detected in mitomycin C treated samples when standard cultures were negative and when substantially fewer verocytotoxin-producing bacteria were present. Use of this method may aid in the detection of VTEC and is appropriate for use in the routine diagnostic laboratory.     

Metabolic engineering strategies for butanol production in Escherichia coli

The global market of butanol is increasing due to its growing applications as solvent, flavoring agent, and chemical precursor of several other compounds. Recently, the superior properties of n-butanol as a biofuel over ethanol have stimulated even more interest. (Bio)butanol is natively produced together with ethanol and acetone by Clostridium species through acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation, at noncompetitive, low titers compared to petrochemical production. Different butanol production pathways have been expressed in Escherichia coli, a more accessible host compared to Clostridium species, to improve butanol titers and rates. The bioproduction of butanol is here reviewed from a historical and theoretical perspective. All tested rational metabolic engineering strategies in E. coli to increase butanol titers are reviewed: manipulation of central carbon metabolism, elimination of competing pathways, cofactor balancing, development of new pathways, expression of homologous enzymes, consumption of different substrates, and molecular biology strategies. The progress in the field of metabolic modeling and pathway generation algorithms and their potential application to butanol production are also summarized here. The main goals are to gather all the strategies, evaluate the respective progress obtained, identify, and exploit the outstanding challenges.     

Practical protocols for production of very high yields of recombinant proteins using Escherichia coli

The gram‐negative bacterium Escherichia coli offers a mean for rapid, high yield, and economical production of recombinant proteins. However, high‐level production of functional eukaryotic proteins in E. coli may not be a routine matter, sometimes it is quite challenging. Techniques to optimize heterologous protein overproduction in E. coli have been explored for host strain selection, plasmid copy numbers, promoter selection, mRNA stability, and codon usage, significantly enhancing the yields of the foreign eukaryotic proteins. We have been working on optimizations of bacterial expression conditions and media with a focus on achieving very high cell density for high‐level production of eukaryotic proteins. Two high‐cell‐density bacterial expression methods have been explored, including an autoinduction introduced by Studier (Protein Expr Purif 2005;41:207–234) recently and a high‐cell‐density IPTG‐induction method described in this study, to achieve a cell‐density OD₆₀₀ of 10–20 in the normal laboratory setting using a regular incubator shaker. Several practical protocols have been implemented with these high‐cell‐density expression methods to ensure a very high yield of recombinant protein production. With our methods and protocols, we routinely obtain 14–25 mg of NMR triple‐labeled proteins and 17–34 mg of unlabeled proteins from a 50‐mL cell culture for all seven proteins we tested. Such a high protein yield used the same DNA constructs, bacterial strains, and a regular incubator shaker and no fermentor is necessary. More importantly, these methods allow us to consistently obtain such a high yield of recombinant proteins using E. coli expression.