High-Efficiency Transformation of Rhizobium leguminosarum by Electroporation

Electrotransformation of Rhizobium leguminosarum was successfully carried out with a 15.1-kb plasmid, pMP154 (Cm^r), containing a nodABC-lacZ fusion by electroporation. The maximum transformation efficiency, 10⁸ transformants/μg of DNA, was achieved at a field strength of 14 kV/cm with a pulse of 7.3 ms (186 Ω). The number of transformants was found to increase with increasing cell density, with no sign of saturation. In relation to DNA dosage, the maximum transformation efficiency (5.8 × 10⁸ transformants/μg of DNA) was obtained with 0.5 μg of DNA/ml of cell suspension, and a further increase in the DNA concentration resulted in a decline in transformation efficiency.     

Improvement of transformation and electroduction in avermectin high-producer,<Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces avermitilis</Emphasis>

Factors affecting the PEG-mediated transformation and electrotransformation of Streptomyces avermitilis protoplasts, an industrial avermectin high-producer, were evaluated. The maximum protoplast transformation efficiency under optimum conditions with PEG was 3 x 106 transformants per microg plasmid pIJ702 DNA. The efficiency of electrotransformation with the same plasmid the intact cells grown in medium with 0.5 mmol/L CaCl2, suspended in buffer with 0.5 mol/L sucrose +1 mmol/L MgCl2, and pulsed at an electric field strength of 10 kV/cm, 800 ohms, 25 microF, was of 2 x 10(3) transformants per microg DNA. When the cells were electroporated after mild lysozyme-treatment, the efficiency was up to 10(4) transformants per microg DNA. Electroporation of protoplasts and germlings had a lower efficiency (10(2) transformants per microg DNA). We report that electroporation under optimum conditions can be used for direct transfer of nonconjugative plasmid pIJ699 between two different Streptomyces species, S. avermitilis and S. lividans.     

Transformation of Acetobacter xylinum with plasmid DNA by electroporation.

Genetic analysis of Acetobacter xylinum, a cellulose-synthesizing bacterium, has been limited by lack of a successful transformation method. Transformation of A. xylinum was attempted using two broad-host-range plasmids (pUCD2 and pRK248) and a variety of transformation methods. Methods using CaCl2, freeze/thaw treatments, and polyethylene glycol were unsuccessful. Transformation of a cellulose-negative strain of A. xylinum with plasmid DNA has been achieved with high-voltage electroporation. Electroporation conditions of 25 microF capacitance, 2.5 kV, 400 ohms resistance, and pulse lengths of 6-8 ms were applied to a cell/DNA mixture in a 0.2-cm cuvette. Plasmid pUCD2 transformed at an efficiency of 10(6)-10(7) transformants/micrograms DNA and pRK248 yielded 10(5) transformants/micrograms DNA. The frequency of transformation increased linearly with increasing DNA concentration, while transformation efficiency remained constant. pUCD2 was recovered from transformants following chloramphenicol amplification and observed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Both plasmids could be reisolated from Escherichia coli after back-transformation with alkaline lysis DNA preparations from Acetobacter transformants. Electro-transformation of A. xylinum with plasmid DNA suggests its potential use for analysis of the A. xylinum genome.     

Factors affecting the transformation of Escherichia coli strain chi1776 by pBR322 plasmid DNA.

The susceptibility of E. coli strain chi1776 to transformation by pBR322 plasmid DNA was examined and optimized. Maximum transformation to tetracycline (Tc) resistance was achieved when cells were harvested from L broth at 5.0--6.0 . 10(7) cfu/ml, followed by washing twice in cold 0.1 M NaCl + 5 mM MgCl2 + 5 mM Tris, pH 7.6. Cells grown in the presence of D-cycloserine (Cyc) rather than nalidixic acid (Nx) transformed markedly better. The presence of 5 mM Mg2+ ions in washing and CaCl2 solutions stimulated transformation about 2-fold. Optimal conditions for transformation included a pH range of 7.25-7.75 and a cell-to-DNA ratio of about 1.6 . 10(8) cfu/ng plasmid DNA. The frequency of transformation was highest when cells were exposed to 100 mM CaCl2 in 250 mM KCl + 5 mM MgCl2 + 5 mM Tris, pH 7.6, before mixing with DNA. A 60 min incubation period for cell + DNA mixtures held on ice produced the maximum number of Tcr transformants. In our hands, heat shocks at 37 degrees C or 42 degrees C for various times all decreased transformation to about one-half of optimal levels. Furthermore, the recovery of transformants was best when cell + DNA mixtures were plated on precooled (4 degrees C) Tc agar plates. The efficiency of plating was optimum when only 5 microliter of cell + DNA mixture was spread per plate, suggesting that non-viable background chi1776 cells on selective medium inhibited the recovery of transformants. It was also found that the presence of linear DNA molecules in cell + DNA mixtures markedly inhibited the transformation of chi1776 by pBR322 plasmid DNA. On the basis of these findings, a new procedure for the plasmid-specific transformation of E. coli chi1776 by pBR322 plasmid DNA is proposed. The use of this technique has allowed us to attain transformation frequencies in excess of 10(7) transformants/microgram pBR322 plasmid DNA.     

Efficient transformation of filamentous fungus Pleurotus ostreatus using single-strand carrier DNA

The effects of carrier DNAs on the transformation of the basidiomycete Pleurotus ostreatus were analyzed. When lambda phage DNA was added to a transformation mixture containing protoplasts and CbxR vector plasmid, an increased number of drug-resistant transformants was observed on a screening plate containing 2 microg carboxin/ml. The highest efficiency (about 200 transformants/microg vector plasmid) was obtained by the addition of heat-denatured lambda DNA, which gave yields approximately 50-fold higher than the control experiment without a carrier DNA. To our knowledge, this is the first report on enhancement in transformation efficiency of fungal protoplasts by single strand carrier DNA.     

Improved transformation of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 by electroporation

Summary An electric field-mediated transformation (i.e. electroporation) was performed to determine optimal conditions for P. putida transformation. The effects of culture age, electroporation buffer composition, electric field strength, pulse time constant and DNA concentration on transformation efficiency were examined. When plasmid DNA of 8 to 11 kb in size was used with an electroporation buffer containing 1 mM HEPES (pH 7.0), maximum transformation efficiency of 1.0 × 10⁷ transformants/g DNA was obtained at field strength of 12 kV/cm with pulse time of 2.5 millisecond. A linear increase in the number of transformants was observed as DNA concentration was increased over 4 orders of magnitude. A linear relationship was observed between growth phase and transformation efficiency up to OD₆₀₀ = 2.0. This reliable and simple method should be useful for introduction of plasmid DNA into intact P. putida cells.     

Efficient transformation of Legionella pneumophila by high-voltage electroporation

A simple and reproducible method has been developed to transform Legionella pneumophila by electroporation. Effects of different conditions, including electric field strength, pulse length, DNA quality and cell density, were evaluated. Using our method, an efficiency of up to 6 x 10(7) transformants/microg DNA was obtained. This optimized transformation procedure should efficiently facilitate gene manipulations in L. pneumophila, such as plasmid transfer, transposon mutagenesis, library transformation for complementation cloning, etc.     

High efficiency transformation by electroporation of Pichia pastoris pretreated with lithium acetate and dithiothreitol

Transformation efficiencies for Pichia pastoris are usually several orders of magnitude below those for other yeast. We report here that pretreatment of P. pastoris with 0.1 M lithium acetate (LiAc) and 10 mM dithiothreitol (DTT) before electroporation increased transformation efficiency approximately 150-fold. DTT alone enhanced the transformation efficiency up to 20-fold, but LiAc alone had little effect. Cultures grown to 1.15-2.6 A at 600 nm had higher transformation efficiencies than younger or older cultures. A cell concentration of 10(10)/mL gave the highest efficiencies. Digestion of pPIC9K within the AOX1 gene with Sacl gave efficiencies approximately 30 times higher than digestion in other genes with other enzymes. Given the optimization of these factors, the highest transformation efficiency was obtained with instrument settings of 1.5 kV, 25 microF, and 186 omega. The transformation efficiency at optimal conditions reached 4 x 10(6) transformants/microgram DNA with pPIC9K. A maximum of 2.6 x 10(5) transformants was produced when 1 microgram of pPIC9K DNA was used.     

Optimum Conditions for Electric Pulse-mediated Gene Transfer to Bacillus subtilis Cells

It was found that plasmid DNA (pUB 110) can be introduced into not only protoplasts but also intact cells of Bacillus subtilis by electric field pulses. The transformation of, B. subtilis using protoplasts results in an efficiency of 2.5 × 10⁴ transformants per μg of DNA, with a single pulse of 50 jisec with an initial electric field strength of 7kV/cm. Even transformation of intact B. subtilis cells results in a maximum efficiency of 1.5 × 10³ transformants per μg DNA, with a single pulse of 400 μsec with an initial electric field strength of 16kV/cm. The cell survival of protoplasts and intact cells was approximately 100% and 30%, respectively, under the conditions found to be optimal for the transformation process. Plasmid DNA isolated from pUB 110 containing transformants was indistinguishable from authentic preparations of pBU 110 on gel electrophoretic analysis.     

Factors involved in the electroporation-induced transformation of Clostridium perfringens

The following factors were found to improve the efficiency of transformation of Clostridium perfringens 3624A Rifr Strr: (1) a reduction in cuvette sample volume (DNA and cell suspension) to 0.8 ml, (2) use of a 1 microgram/ml concentration of transforming DNA, (3) use of late-logarithmic phase cells, (4) 3-fold concentration of cell density (3.0 x 10(8) CFU/ml), and (5) a reduction in the pH of the expression and selective plating medium to 6.4. Application of the improved conditions resulted in transformation efficiencies for C. perfringens 3624A Rifr Strr ranging from 7.1 transformants/microgram DNA for plasmic pIP401 to 9.2 x 10(4) transformants per microgram DNA for plasmid pAK201. The greatest transformation efficiency obtained using pAK201 was 9.8 x 10(6) transformants/micrograms DNA for C. perfringens strain 13. Using the improved protocol, pAM beta 1 was transformed at a 42-fold greater level when compared with the values reported earlier [1]. In addition to C. perfringens 3624A Rifr Strr, strains 13, 10543A, 3628C, NTG-4, and 3624A were successfully transformed. Nuclease does not appear to be a factor in the C. perfringens strain-specific electro-transformation protocol.     

Bacterial transformation using micro-shock waves

Shock waves are one of the most competent mechanisms of energy dissipation observed in nature. We have developed a novel device to generate controlled micro-shock waves using an explosive-coated polymer tube. In this study, we harnessed these controlled micro-shock waves to develop a unique bacterial transformation method. The conditions were optimized for the maximum transformation efficiency in Escherichia coli. The maximum transformation efficiency was obtained when we used a 30 cm length polymer tube, 100 μm thick metal foil, 200 mM CaCl₂, 1 ng/μl plasmid DNA concentration, and 1 × 10⁹ cell density. The highest transformation efficiency achieved (1 × 10⁻⁵ transformants/cell) was at least 10 times greater than the previously reported ultrasound-mediated transformation (1 × 10⁻⁶ transformants/cell). This method was also successfully employed for the efficient and reproducible transformation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonellatyphimurium. This novel method of transformation was shown to be as efficient as electroporation with the added advantage of better recovery of cells, reduced cost (40 times cheaper than a commercial electroporator), and growth phase independent transformation.     

Electrotransformation in Salmonella typhimurium LT2

Electroporation gives high efficiency of transformation in Salmonella typhimurium LT2, yielding 10(8)-10(9) electrotransformants per microgram of pBR322 DNA. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) composition has little influence on electrotransformation efficiency by electroporation, unlike Ca2+ shock methods, which give ca. 10(6) transformants/microgram DNA with strains with Rc or Rd2 LPS, 10(4) transformants with most smooth and rough strains, and 10(2) transformants with strains with Re LPS. Thus cell envelope properties are less crucial in electrotransformation than in Ca2+ shock methods. The reciprocal restriction barrier between Escherichia coli K-12 and S. typhimurium LT2 reduces electrotransformation by ca. 100-fold, but host-restriction mutants reduce or eliminate the barrier.     

High efficiency electroporation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa using frozen cell suspensions

High efficiency transformation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was achieved using frozen cell suspensions and high voltage electroporation. We have obtained frequencies as high as 5.8 x 10(8) transformants/micrograms of plasmid DNA using PA01 strain OT684 and a buffer of 15% glycerol-1 mM MOPS. The method allows for easy and reproducible production of frozen cell suspensions for rapid transformation of P. aeruginosa.     

Highly efficient transformation of intact yeast-like conidium cells of Tremella fuciformis by electroporation

Tremella fuciformis is one of higher basidiomycetes. Its basidiospore can reproduce yeast-like conidia, also called the blastospore by budding. The yeast-like conidia of T. fuciformis is monokaryotic and easy to culture by submerged fermentation similar to yeast. So it is a good recipient cell for exogenous gene expression. In this study, two expression vectors pGlg-gfp containing gpd-Gl promoter and gfp gene and pGlg-hph containing gpd-Gl promoter and hph gene were constructed. The lowest sensitive concentration of hygromycin for the blastospore was determined on three types of media. Our ex- periments showed that the lowest sensitive concentration of hygromycin for the blastospore was 5 μg/mL on MA medium. The intact blastospores were transformed with the expression vector pGlg-hph by electroporation. The putative transformants were obtained by the MA selective medium. Experi- mental results showed that the most effective parameters for the electroporation of intact blastospores were obtained by using STM buffer, 1.0×108 cells/mL of blastospores, 200 μL in transformation volume, 6 μg plasmid, 2.0 kV/cm of electric pulse voltage, stillness culturing on MB liquid medium for 48 h after electroporation. In these transformation conditions, the efficiency reached 277 colonies/μg DNA. Co-transformation of plasmid pGlg-gfp and pGlg-hph with ratio of 1:1 was performed by electroporation with the optimal parameters. The putative co-transformants were obtained by the MA selective medium. Eight randomly selected colonies from the vast putative co-transformants were analyzed by PCR de- tection and Southern blotting. The experiments showed that the gfp was integrated into the genomes of three transformants. The co-transformation efficiency was 37.5%. Green fluorescence was observed under laser scanning confocal microscope in these gfp positive transformants. This indicates that the exogenous gfp can be expressed effectively in the yeast-like conidia of T. fuciformis.     

Improved method for electroporation of Staphylococcus aureus

We have developed a significantly improved method for the electroporation of plasmid DNA into Staphylococcus aureus. The highest transformation efficiency achieved with this procedure was 4.0 x 10(8) transformants per microgram of plasmid pSK265 DNA. This represents a 530-fold improvement over the previously reported optimum efficiency of 7.5 x 10(5) transformants per microgram of plasmid DNA after electroporation of S. aureus cells [9]. Identical results were obtained when electrocompetent cells, which had been stored frozen at -80 degrees C, were used. The improved efficiency is due primarily to the use of a modified medium (designated as B2 medium) and secondarily to the use of 0.1-cm cuvettes. Several other plasmids (pI258, pMH109, and pSK270) were also electrotransformed into competent cells using our procedure, and for each plasmid, the transformation efficiency was significantly reduced compared to that observed when pSK265 DNA was used. With respect to plasmid pI258, the transformation efficiency was 3500-fold higher than that reported previously for transformation of this plasmid into S. aureus RN4220 [9]. The optimized electroporation procedure was less successful in transforming other staphylococci. Electrocompetent cells of S. aureus ATCC 29213 and S. epidermidis ATCC 12228 produced 5.5 x 10(5) and 5 x 10(3) transformants per microgram of pSK265 DNA, respectively.     

Interspecific transformation of Bacillus subtilis competent cells by chromosomal DNA in lysates of protoplasts of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens

Competent cells of Bacillus subtilis were transformed with chromosomal DNA in lysates of protoplasts of B. subtilis or B. amyloliquefaciens. The interspecific transformation frequency of B. subtilis by cysA in a conserved region was 3.1 x 10(4) transformants per microg DNA, 60 times higher than that for conventional transformation using purified DNA. Increased interspecific transformation frequencies of B. subtilis were also observed for arg-1, lys-1, leuB, aroG, thr-5, hisH, or metC markers outside the conserved region (3.1 x 10 approximately 5.2 x 10(2) transformants per microg DNA). An interspecific cotransformation ratio (33-50%) as high as an intraspecific one (46%) using purified DNA was also detected between cysA and rpsL markers, which are separated by 16 kb on the B. subtilis chromosome. Interspecific double transformation of the cysA-arg-1 or cysA-metC marker was observed, which have not been detected for conventional transformation. The involvement of mutS in the interspecific transformation was not significant.     

Effects of DNA Topology on Transformation Efficiency of Bacillus subtilis ISW1214 by Electroporation

We report an investigation of electrotransformation by three different topological isomers, circular supercoiled (sc DNA), circular relaxed (cr DNA), and linearized (In DNA) forms of the plasmids pUB110 (4.5 kbp) and pBDR331T (12.6 kbp), of a Gram-positive bacterium, Bacillus subtilis ISW1214. Treatment of the sc DNA with calf thymus topoisomerase I removed the superhelicity and the DNA assumed the relaxed circular form. Treatment of sc DNA with restriction endonuclease linearized the DNA. The transformation with the sc DNA of pUB110 resulted in the maximum efficiency of (2.6±0.6) × 10⁵ transformants per μg DNA higher than that ((2.0±0.3) × 10⁴ transformants per μg DNA) for the cr DNA, using the DNA concentration of 20 μg/ml at an electric field strength of 7kV/cm and a capacitance of 10 μF with a single decayed pulse. The transformation efficiency (TE) for the In DNA was zero. The variations of TE for different topological forms of DNA reflected their relative stability in the host cells. The molecular efficiency (ME, transformants per molecule) for sc DNA was nearly one order of magnitude greater for the lower molecular size of pUB110 DNA than that for the higher molecular size of pBDR331T DNA.     

Conjugative transfer of a shuttle plasmid for Escherichia coli to Mycobacterium smegmatis

Plasmid DNAs were introduced by electroporation into Bacillus subtilis PB1424 as an alternative to competent-cell or protoplast transformation. The maximum electroporation efficiency was 10(4) transformants/microgram DNA. Parameters including growth phase of cells, ionic strength of the suspending medium, concentration and size of plasmid DNAs, amplitude and duration of the pulse, were evaluated in order to determine conditions that improved transformation efficiency.     

Integrative transformation system for the metabolic engineering of the sphingoid base-producing yeast Pichia ciferrii

We have developed an integrative transformation system for metabolic engineering of the tetraacetyl phytosphingosine (TAPS)-secreting yeast Pichia ciferrii. The system uses (i) a mutagenized ribosomal protein L41 gene of P. ciferrii as a dominant selection marker that confer resistance to the antibiotic cycloheximide and (ii) a ribosomal DNA (rDNA) fragment of P. ciferrii as a target for multicopy gene integration into the chromosome. A locus within the nontranscribed region located between 5S and 26S rDNAs was selected as the integration site. A maximum frequency of integrative transformation of approximately 1,350 transformants/ microg of DNA was observed. To improve the de novo synthesis of sphingolipid, the LCB2 gene, encoding a subunit of serine palmitoyltransferase, which catalyzes the first committed step of sphingolipid synthesis, was cloned from P. ciferrii and overexpressed under the control of the P. ciferrii glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter. After transformation of an LCB2 gene expression cassette, several transformants that contained approximately five to seven copies of transforming DNA in the chromosome and exhibited about 50-fold increase in LCB2 mRNA relative to the wild type were identified. These transformants were observed to produce approximately two times more TAPS than the wild type.     

A general method for polyethylene-glycol-induced genetic transformation of bacteria and yeast

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) can induce genetic transformation in both bacteria (Escherichia coli) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) without cell wall removal. PEG-mediated transformation of E. coli is technically simple and yields transformants with an efficiency of 10(6)-10(7) transformants/microgram DNA. Detailed analysis of the parameters involved in PEG-mediated transformation of E. coli reveals basic differences between the PEG and standard CaCl2 methods for transformation of E. coli. PEG-mediated transformation of yeast is far simpler than existing protoplast methods and is comparable in efficiency. The new methods described here for PEG-mediated genetic transformation may prove to be of general utility in performing genetic transformation in a wide variety of organisms.