Catabolite repression of β-galactosidase synthesis in Escherichia coli

1. Repression by glucose of β-galactosidase synthesis is spontaneously reversible in all strains of Escherichia coli examined long before the glucose has all been consumed. The extent of recovery and the time necessary for reversal differ among various strains. Other inducible enzymes show similar effects. 2. This transient effect of glucose repression is observed in constitutive (i⁻) and permease-less (y⁻) cells as well as in the corresponding i⁺ and y⁺ strains. 3. Repression is exerted by several rapidly metabolizable substrates (galactose, ribose and ribonucleosides) but not by non-metabolized or poorly metabolized compounds (2-deoxyglucose, 2-deoxyribose, phenyl thio-β-galactoside and 2-deoxyribonucleosides). 4. The transient repression with glucose is observed in inducible cells supplied with a powerful inducer of β-galactosidase synthesis (e.g. isopropyl thio-β-galactoside) but not with a weak inducer (lactose); in the latter instance glucose repression is permanent. Diauxic growth on glucose plus lactose can be abolished by including isopropyl thio-β-galactoside in the medium. 5. In some strains phosphate starvation increases catabolite repression; in others it relieves it. Adenine starvation in an adenine-requiring mutant also relieves catabolite repression by glycerol but not that by glucose. Restoration of phosphate or adenine to cells starved of these nutrients causes a pronounced temporary repression. Alkaline-phosphatase synthesis is not affected by the availability of adenine. 6. During periods of transient repression of induced enzyme synthesis the differential rate of RNA synthesis, measured by labelled uracil incorporation in 2min. pulses, shows a temporary rise. 7. The differential rate of uracil incorporation into RNA falls during exponential growth of batch cultures of E. coli. This is equally true for uracil-requiring and non-requiring strains. The fall in the rate of incorporation has been shown to be due to a real fall in the rate of RNA synthesis. The significance of the changes in the rate of RNA synthesis is discussed. 8. A partial model of catabolite repression is presented with suggestions for determining the chemical identification of the catabolite co-repressor itself.     

Expression and characterization of Kluyveromyces lactis β-galactosidase in Escherichia coli

Kluyveromyces lactis -galactosidase gene, LAC4, was expressed in Escherichia coli as a soluble His-tagged recombinant enzyme under the optimized culture conditions. The expressed protein was multimeric with a subunit molecular mass of 118 kDa. The dimeric form of the -galactosidase was the major fraction but had a lower activity than those of the multimeric forms. The purified enzyme required Mn²⁺ for activity and was inactivated irreversibly by imidazole above 50 mM. The activity was optimal at 37 and 40 °C for o-nitrophenyl--d-galactopyranoside (oNPG) and lactose, respectively. The optimum pH value is 7. The K _m and V _max values of the purified enzyme for oNPG were 1.5 mM and 560 mol min^–1 mg^–1, and for lactose 20 mM and 570 mol min^–1 mg^–1, respectively.     

The expression of β-galactosidase by Escherichia coli during continuous culture

We have used the technique of continuous culture to study the expression of β-galactosidase in Escherichia coli. In these experiments the cultures were grown on carbon-limited media in which half of the available carbon was supplied as glycerol, glucose, or glucose 6-phosphate, and the other half as lactose. Lactose itself provided the sole source of inducer for the lac operon. The steady-state specific activity of the enzyme passed through a maximal value as a function of dilution rate. Moreover, the rate at which activity was maximal (0.40 h^?1) and the observed specific activity of the enzyme at a given growth rate were found to be identical in each of the three media tested. This result was unexpected, since the steady-state specific activity can be shown to be equal to the differential rate of enzyme synthesis, and since it is known that glycerol, glucose, and glucose-6-P-cause different degrees of catabolite repression in batch culture. The differential rate of β-galactosidase synthesis was an apparently linear function of the rate of lactose utilization per milligram protein regardless of the composition of the input medium. That is, it is independent of the rate of metabolism of substrates other than lactose which are concurrently being utilized and the enzyme level appears to be matched to the metabolic requirement for it. If this relationship is taken to indicate the existence of a fundamental control mechanism, it may represent a form of attenuation of the rate of β-galactosidase synthesis which is independent of cyclic AMP levels.     

Activity and stability of Escherichia coli β-galactosidase in cosolvent systems

The kinetic parameters of E.coli -galactosidase were not altered by the addition of 2-propanol or ethyl acetate (1.6% v/v). While ethylene glycol (1.6% v/v) doubled the values of both KM (0.29 mM) and kcat (1393 s–), tetraethyleneglycol-dimethylether (Tetraglyme,1.6% v/v) preserved KM, but decreased kcat. At 50°C all the cosolvents dramatically shortened the enzymatic half life, and so did Tetraglyme and 2-propanol at 28°C. At 28°C, both ethyl acetate and ethylene glycol stabilised the enzyme 9- and 6-fold respectively. This fact, together with the activation effect of ethylene glycol may lead to practical applications. © Rapid Science Ltd. 1998     

Improvement of culture conditions to overproduce β-galactosidase from Escherichia coli in Bacillus subtilis

The effect of some culture variables in the production of β-galactosidase from Escherichia coli in Bacillus subtilis was evaluated. The lacZ gene was expressed in B. subtilis using the regulatory region of the subtilisin gene aprE. The host contained also the hpr2 and degU32 mutations, which are known to overexpress the aprE gene. We found that, when this overproducing B. subtilis strain was grown in mineral medium supplemented with glucose (MMG), β-galactosidase production was partially growth-associated, as 40%–60% of the maximum enzyme activity was produced before the onset of the stationary phase. In contrast, when a complex medium was used, β-galactosidase was produced only at low levels during vegetative growth, whereas it accumulated to high levels during early stationary phase. Compared with the results obtained in complex media, a 20% increase in specific β-galactosidase activity in MMG supplemented with 11.6 g/l glucose was obtained. On the 1-l fermenter scale, a threefold increase in volumetric β-galactosidase activity was obtained when the glucose concentration was varied from 11 g/l to 26 g/l. In addition, glucose feeding during the stationary phase resulted in a twofold increase in volumetric enzyme activity as cellular lysis was prevented. Finally, we showed that oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide evolution rates can be used for on-line determination of the onset of stationary phase, glucose depletion and biomass concentration. Received: 18 April 1996 / Received revision: 27 August 1996 / Accepted: 6 September 1996     

Studies of the M15 β-Galactosidase Complementation Process

M15 -Galactosidase was activated by heat-denatured wild-type -galactosidase, urea, and heat-denatured wild-type -galactosidase, a peptide made up of residues 6–44 of -galactosidase and CB2, the peptide that is normally used for complementation (residues 3–92 of -galactosidase). In each case roughly equal activation levels were attained. Heat-denatured wild-type -galactosidase was present as a finely divided visible white precipitate both before and after complementation. The heat-denatured protein by itself did not migrate on native PAGE and both the protein and the activity that occurred as a result of the complementation also remained at the point of application. The N-terminal ends of the heat-denatured wild-type -galactosidase must have been available for complementation and must have been mobile enough to allow tetramer to form despite being aggregated. -Galactosidase denatured by both urea and heat resulted in a streak of interacting protein on the native PAGE. Upon activation, a streak (indicating that interaction was still occurring) was still present, but it moves more slowly. Complementation using a peptide called XP (made up of residues 6–44 plus an additional nine C-terminal amino acids) resulted in three discrete forms of active enzyme at ratios of peptide to M15 -galactosidase monomer of less than 1:1. The fastest migrating of the three bands predominated at ratios near 1:1. A single active tetrameric form of M15 -galactosidase was formed with CB2. In both of these last two cases an active slow-moving diffuse band also formed (possibly a dimer of the tetramer). A quantitation of the amount of peptide bound to M15 -galactosidase by titration with XP and with CB2 and by using gel filtration after an excess of fluorescent-labeled XP was added showed that peptide bound in a 1:1 ratio (peptide/monomer) when full activity was achieved. These fluorescent studies also showed that peptide initially bound to dimer and that the tetramer was then formed.     

Production of the hybrid protein staphylococcal protein A/Escherichia coli β-galactosidase with E. coli

We have investigated the cultivation of an Escherichia coli strain producing the hybrid protein SpA-βgal. The hybrid protein consists of protein A from Staphylococcus aureus and β-galactosidase from E. coli with retained biological activity of both protein A and β-galactosidase. The expression was controlled by the temperature regulated P_R promoter from phage lambda. By late induction of the product synthesis it was possible to circumvent the problem with plasmid instability. The amount of produced SpA-βgal corresponded to approximately 1256 of the cell dry weight. In shake flask cultures most of the hybrid protein was found in an insoluble form and typical inclusion bodies were observed. However, the major part of the protein could be produced in a soluble and biological active form under controlled conditions in a reactor.     

Ethanol-mediated gene-amplification in Escherichia coli enhances derepressed synthesis of β-galactosidase

Summary The presence of ethanol (5 % v/v), in nutrient medium, ehanced DNA synthesis per E. coli cell nearly 2.8-fold compared to that in control cells. At this concentration, the derepressed synthesis of -galactosidase per bacterium also increased about 3-fold. We, therefore, propose that the ethanol-mediated gene-amplification proportionately elevated the induced synthesis of -galactosidase.     

Vectors for regulated high-level expression of proteins fused to truncated forms of Escherichia coli β-galactosidase

Vectors were constructed that allow the expression of large quantities of fused proteins in Escherichia coli. The plasmids carry the E. coli lac UV5 promotor and different portions of the coding sequence of the E. coli lacZ gene. The truncated lacZ genes are flanked by a polylinker region either at their 5′ end or their 3′ end, which has several unique restriction sites. Thus, coding sequences of any prokaryotic and eukaryotic gene can be ligated in frame to the truncated lacZ genes. These vectors were used for high-level production of herpes simplex virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein D antigens.     

Interaction of the lacZ β-galactosidase of Escherichia coli with some β-d-galactopyranoside competitive inhibitors

1. The location of the bivalent metal cation with respect to bound competitive inhibitors in Escherichia coli (lacZ) beta-galactosidase was investigated by proton magnetic resonance. 2. Replacement of Mg(2+) by Mn(2+) enhances both longitudinal and transverse relaxation of the methyl groups of the beta-d-galactopyranosyltrimethylammonium ion, and of methyl 1-thio-beta-d-galactopyranoside; linewidths are narrowed by increasing temperature. 3. The Mn(2+) ion is located 8-9A (0.8-0.9nm) from the centroid of the trimethylammonium group and 9A (0.9nm) from the average position of the methylthio protons. 4. The effective charge at the active site was probed by measurement of competitive inhibition constants (K(i) (o) and K(i) (+) respectively) for the isosteric ligands, beta-d-galactopyranosylbenzene and the beta-d-galactopyranosylpyridinium ion. 5. The ratio of inhibition constants (Q=K(i) (+)/K(i) (o)) obtained with 2-(beta-d-galactopyranosyl)-naphthalene and the beta-d-galactopyranosylisoquinolinium ion at pH7 with Mg(2+)-enzyme was identical, within experimental error, with that obtained with the monocyclic compounds. 6. The variation of Q for Mg(2+)-enzyme can be described by Q=0.1(1+[H(+)]/4.17x10(-10))/1+[H(+)]/10(-8)). 7. This, in the theoretical form for a single ionizable group, is ascribed to the ionization of the phenolic hydroxy group of tyrosine-501. 8. The variation of Q for Mg(2+)-free enzyme is complex, probably because of deprotonation of the groups normally attached to Mg(2+) as well as tyrosine-501.     

Expression of a β-galactosidase gene from Lactobacillus sake in Escherichia coli

Summary A -galactosidase gene from Lactobacillus sake coding for lactose hydrolysis was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Chromosomal DNA from L. sake was partially digested with the restriction enzyme Sau3AI, and the 3–6 Kb fragment was ligated to the cloning vector pSP72 digested with BamHI. One E. coli transformant expressing -galactosidase was isolated on X-gal plates. It contained a plasmid with an insertion of approx. 4 Kb. The restriction map of the recombinant plasmid was constructed. The characteristics of the recombinant -galactosidase were compared with those of the wild type. The optima pH and temperature for both enzymes was 6.5 and 50°C, respectively. Stability of the enzymes at different temperatures and activity on lactose were determined.     

An enzymatic glycosylation of nucleoside analogues using β-galactosidase from Escherichia coli

A new enzymatic method for the synthesis of β-galactosides of nucleosides and acyclic nucleoside analogues has been developed, using β-galactosidase from Escherichia coli as a catalyst and lactose as a sugar donor. The method is very rapid, feasible and last but not least inexpensive. Its applicability has been proven for a broad variety of possible substrates with respect to its scaling up for preparative use. Five new compounds from a series of nucleoside and acyclic nucleoside analogues have been prepared on a scale of several hundred milligrams, in all cases revealing very good results of the method concerning the reproducibility of the reaction yields and simplicity of the purification process.     

Aqueous two-phase partition coefficients for Escherichia coli β-galactosidase fusions

The partition of native Escherichia coli -galactosidase and of two different fusion proteins comprised mainly of -galactosidase from E. coli was studied in aqueous two-phase systems composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dextran. These fusions contain an amino-terminal segment from the E. coli outer membrane protein F (OmpF) and a linker peptide. Differences in the partition pattern could be observed for the three enzymes despite their similarity. Decreased polymer concentrations in the phase system increased the partition coefficient for all three -galactosidases.     

Two distinct states of Escherichia coli cells that overexpress recombinant heterogeneous β-galactosidase

The mechanism by which inclusion bodies form is still not well understood, partly because the dynamic processes of the inclusion body formation and its solubilization have hardly been investigated at an individual cell level, and so the important detailed information has not been acquired for the mechanism. In this study, we investigated the in vivo folding and aggregation of Aspergillus phoenicis β-D-galactosidase fused to a red fluorescence protein in individual Escherichia coli cells. The folding status and expression level of the recombinant β-D-galactosidase at an individual cell level was analyzed by flow cytometry in combination with transmission electron microscopy and Western blotting. We found that individual E. coli cells fell into two distinct states, one containing only inclusion bodies accompanied with low galactosidase activity and the other containing the recombinant soluble galactosidase accompanied with high galactosidase activity. The majority of the E. coli cells in the later state possessed no inclusion bodies. The two states of the cells were shifted to a cell state with high enzyme activity by culturing the cells in isopropyl 1-thio-β-D-galactopyranoside-free medium after an initial protein expression induction in isopropyl 1-thio-β-D-galactopyranoside-containing medium. This shift of the cell population status took place without the level change of the β-D-galactosidase protein in individual cells, indicating that the factor(s) besides the crowdedness of the recombinant protein play a major role in the cell state transition. These results shed new light on the mechanism of inclusion body formation and will facilitate the development of new strategies in improving recombinant protein quality.     

Cloning and expression of β-galactosidase gene from Bifidobacterium infantis into Escherichia coli

Bifidobacterium infantis HL96 produces three -galactosidases (-gal I, II and III). A genomic bank of B. infantis was constructed in E. coli by using pBR322 as a cloning vector. Two E. coli transformants, BIG1 and BIG4, possessing -galactosidase activity, were selected from X-gal plates. They contained two different recombinant plasmids with insert DNA fragments of approx. 4.6 and 4.4 kb, respectively. The restriction maps of pBIG1 and pBIG4 were constructed. -Galactosidases from crude cell-free extracts of B. infantis and of two E. coli recombinants were analyzed by native PAGE and characterized by activity staining. pBIG1 and pBIG4 were shown to carry the genes for -gal I and -gal III, respectively. Optimal pH and temperature for hydrolytic activity of the native enzyme were 7.5 and 40°C, while those for recombinant BIG1 and BIG4 were 7.5, 50°C and 8.0, 40°C, respectively. © Rapid Science Ltd. 1998     

Disulfide bond formation and activation of Escherichia coli β-galactosidase under oxidizing conditions

Escherichia coli β-galactosidase is probably the most widely used reporter enzyme in molecular biology, cell biology, and biotechnology because of the easy detection of its activity. Its large size and tetrameric structure make this bacterial protein an interesting model for crystallographic studies and atomic mapping. In the present study, we investigate a version of Escherichia coli β-galactosidase produced under oxidizing conditions, in the cytoplasm of an Origami strain. Our data prove the activation of this microbial enzyme under oxidizing conditions and clearly show the occurrence of a disulfide bond in the β-galactosidase structure. Additionally, the formation of this disulfide bond is supported by the analysis of a homology model of the protein that indicates that two cysteines located in the vicinity of the catalytic center are sufficiently close for disulfide bond formation.