A ‘phase-shift’ fusion system for the regulation of foreign gene expression by lambda represser in Gram-negative bacteria

A ‘phase-shift’ translation fusion vector was constructed in which mutually compatible restriction sites BamHI, BelI and BglII are positioned in such a manner that the cut point is in a different reading frame, immediately following the ATG start codon and ribosome-binding site of the λ cro gene. The λ cro gene is expressed from promoter p_R and controlled by a thermosensitive (cI857) λ repressor. The usefulness of the expression vector was demonstrated using a gal gene lacking the ATG start codon and fusing this to the p_R promoter and ATG start codon of the λ cro gene, resulting in cI857-regulated expression of galactokinase. The vector is of general use for foreign gene expression in Escherichia coli when the target gene has a compatible cohesive end (5′-GATC-3′) at the N terminus (provided, for example, by a BamHI linker). The A λ cI857-p_R-cro-galK cassette was cloned into pJRD215, a wide-host-range plasmid and transferred by conjugation to a variety of Gram-negative bacteria. In all cases, thermosensitive regulation of galactokinase could be demonstrated, though the levels of induction varied considerably. These results show that the powerful λ p_R promoter and the efficient A repressor can be used to regulate expression of foreign genes in Gram-negative organisms other than E. coli.     

Altered temperature induction sensitivity of the lambda pR/cI857 system for controlled gene E expression in Escherichia coli

Cell lysis of Gram-negative bacteria can be efficiently achieved by expression of the cloned lysis gene E of bacteriophage PhiX174. Gene E expression is tightly controlled by the rightward lambda pR promoter and the temperature-sensitive repressor cI857 on lysis plasmid pAW12. The resulting empty bacterial cell envelopes, called bacterial ghosts, are currently under investigation as candidate vaccines. Expression of gene E is stringently repressed at temperatures up to 30 degrees C, whereas gene E expression, and thus cell lysis, is induced at temperatures higher than 30 degrees C due to thermal inactivation of the cI857 repressor. As a consequence, the production of ghosts requires that bacteria have to be grown at 28 degrees C before the lysis process is induced. In order to reflect the growth temperature of pathogenic bacteria in vivo, it seemed favorable to extend the heat stability of the lambda pR promoter/cI857 repressor system, allowing pathogens to grow at 37 degrees C before induction of lysis. In this study we describe a mutation in the lambda pR promoter, which allows stringent repression of gene E expression at temperatures up to 36 degrees C, but still permits induction of cell lysis at 42 degrees C.     

含翻译增强子的表达载体pSC34的构建及初步应用

１９８８年Ｏｌｉｎｓ［１］发现Ｔ７噬菌体基因１０的先导序列（Ｔ７ｇ１０Ｌ）具有明显的促进基因翻译的作用．本文构建了含Ｔ７ｇ１０Ｌ的表达载体ｐＳＣ３４,并尝试表达了几个不同类型的基因．１材料与方法１．１菌株大肠杆菌菌株ＴＡＰ１０６为本室储存．ＴＡＰ１０...     

F''-coded, temperature-sensitive lambda cI857 repressor gene for easy construction and regulation of lambda promoter-dependent expression systems.

We describe the construction and properties of an F' factor which carries the temperature-sensitive cI857 allele of the repressor gene of coliphage lambda and which lacks the lambda cro function. This episome can easily be transferred to any F- and F' Escherichia coli strain, thus facilitating the construction and regulation of lambda promoter-dependent expression systems without the use of defective prophages.     

Fine regulation of cI857-controlled gene expression in continuous culture of recombinant Escherichia coli by temperature.

The expression at different temperatures of the lacZ gene, which is controlled by the lambda pL and pR tandem promoters and the cI857 temperature-sensitive repressor, was studied in Escherichia coli continuous cultures. At temperatures between 30 and 42 degrees C, beta-galactosidase activity behaved according to an exponential equation. By inducing a culture at a temperature within this range, predefined, nearly constant submaximal levels of gene expression and recombinant product yield can be obtained.     

Heat-inducible autolytic vector for high-throughput screening

In directed evolution, a high-throughput screening system is often a prerequisite for sampling the enzyme variants. When the target enzyme is expressed intracellularly, for example when Escherichia coli is used as the host, chemical or enzymatic disruption of cell membrane is often required in many cases, which can be tedious, time-consuming, and costly. In this study, a set of heat-inducible autolytic vectors were constructed to solve this problem, in which the SRRz lysis gene cassette from bacteriophage lambda was placed downstream of heat-inducible promoters, lambda cI857/pR promoter and its mutant, c1857/pR(M). The artificial autolytic units were inserted into the backbone of pUC18 (away from the multiple cloning sites). For the wild promoter; cI857/pR, the SRRz lysis cassette was expressed by temperature up-shift from 28 degrees to 38 degrees C, and the lysis efficiency of transformed bacterial cells was found to be consistent and could reach 96.3% as measured by the reporter beta3-galactosidase assay. In order to obtain a higher cell growth rate, the mutant promoter cI857/pR(M) was utilized to allow bacteria growth at 35 degrees C and lysis at 42 degrees C. However; this heat-inducible system showed significant inconsistency in terms of lysis efficiency. Bacillus subtilis 168 lipase A gene was further inserted into the multiple cloning sites of the autolytic vector containing cI857/pR, and 93.7% of the expressed lipase activity was found in the culture medium upon heat induction, demonstrating the utility of the vector for expression and rapid extracellular assay of heterologous enzymes.     

Streptomyces marker plasmids for monitoring survival and spread of streptomycetes in soil.

Plasmid constructs pNW1 through pNW6 containing a controllable xylE gene (for catechol 2,3-dioxygenase) were introduced into Streptomyces lividans strains to provide a selectable marker system. xylE functions in S. lividans under the control of bacteriophage lambda promoters lambda pL and lambda pR. Thermoregulated expression of xylE is provided through the lambda repressor cI857. Catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity was increased 2.8-fold from plasmid construct pNW2 (lambda pL, xylE, cI857) and 9.5- and 7.4-fold from constructs pNW3 (lambda pR, xylE, cI857) and pNW5 (lambda pR, xylE, cI857), respectively, when the temperature was shifted from 28 degrees C to 37 degrees C. The stability of the constructs varied from 4.7% for pNW2 to 99.4% for pNW4 (lambda pL, xylE) over two rounds of sporulation. Marked S. lividans strains released into soil systems retained the XylE phenotype for more than 80 days, depending on the marker plasmid, when examined by a selective plating method. Furthermore, S. lividans harboring plasmid pNW5 was detectable by nucleic acid hybridization at less than 10 CFU g-1 (dry weight) of soil as mycelium and 10(3) CFU g-1 (dry weight) of soil as spores with the xylE marker DNA extracted from soil and amplified by using the polymerase chain reaction.     

Streptomyces marker plasmids for monitoring survival and spread of streptomycetes in soil.

Plasmid constructs pNW1 through pNW6 containing a controllable xylE gene (for catechol 2,3-dioxygenase) were introduced into Streptomyces lividans strains to provide a selectable marker system. xylE functions in S. lividans under the control of bacteriophage lambda promoters lambda pL and lambda pR. Thermoregulated expression of xylE is provided through the lambda repressor cI857. Catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity was increased 2.8-fold from plasmid construct pNW2 (lambda pL, xylE, cI857) and 9.5- and 7.4-fold from constructs pNW3 (lambda pR, xylE, cI857) and pNW5 (lambda pR, xylE, cI857), respectively, when the temperature was shifted from 28 degrees C to 37 degrees C. The stability of the constructs varied from 4.7% for pNW2 to 99.4% for pNW4 (lambda pL, xylE) over two rounds of sporulation. Marked S. lividans strains released into soil systems retained the XylE phenotype for more than 80 days, depending on the marker plasmid, when examined by a selective plating method. Furthermore, S. lividans harboring plasmid pNW5 was detectable by nucleic acid hybridization at less than 10 CFU g-1 (dry weight) of soil as mycelium and 10(3) CFU g-1 (dry weight) of soil as spores with the xylE marker DNA extracted from soil and amplified by using the polymerase chain reaction.     

Analysis of the Escherichia coli proBA locus by DNA and protein sequencing

A 2.9 kb DNA fragment carrying the Escherichia coli proBA region, which encodes the first two enzymes of the proline biosynthetic pathway, was subcloned onto an expression plasmid carrying both the bacteriophage lambda PL promoter (lambda PL) and the lambda gene encoding a thermolabile cI repressor protein (cI857). Derepression of the lambda PL promoter by thermal inactivation of the cI857 repressor protein resulted in the simultaneous overproduction of the proB (gamma-glutamyl kinase) and proA (gamma-glutamyl phosphate reductase) gene products. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the proBA locus allowed gene assignments consistent with the NH2 and COOH-terminal analyses and amino acid compositions of homogeneous preparations of the proB and proA proteins. The contiguous nature of the proB and proA genes suggests that the two genes constitute an operon in which proB precedes proA.     

Expression unit in the region of replication initiation in the streptococcal plasmid pSM19035

Several sequences, resembling vegetative promoters and ribosome-binding sites of Bacilli were found in the primary structure of the replication region of Streptococci plasmid pSM19035. Promoterless alpha-amylase gene of Bac. amyloliquefaciens and lambda cI857 gene, supplied with BamHI site upstream of the initiator ATG-codon, were used for functional characterization of the structures. As a result, Bac. subtilis synthesized alpha-amylase up to 0.5 g/l, and lambda-repressor up to 3% of the intracellular water-soluble protein. The repressor, synthesized in Bac. subtilis, regulates lambda PR promoter in the cells. Plasmid pCB22 is constructed for the convenience of usage of the found expression unit, called EU19035. The plasmid has BamHI and BgIII sites on different distances from the ribosome-binding site.     

Phage lambda and plasmid expression vectors with multiple cloning sites and lacZ alpha-complementation

Two new lambda vectors were constructed which permit cloning of genes that are potentially lethal if cloned in analogous plasmid vectors. lambda DL10 and lambda DL11 contain the alpha-complementing fragment of lacZ and multiple cloning sites found in the polylinker region of M13mp10 and M13mp11, respectively. DNA cloned into the unique cloning sites of these vectors can be detected by inactivation of alpha-complementation. These lambda vectors provide a lac promoter for expression of foreign genes as well as the ability to make fusion proteins. Two plasmid expression vectors, pPR110 and pPR111, were constructed from lambda DL10 and lambda DL11 respectively, and pCQV2. These plasmids, which express lacZ alpha-complementing activity from the lambda PR promoter, contain multiple cloning sites immediately downstream of the PR promoter. They allow cloning of genes under the control of the PR promoter and the plasmid-encoded thermosensitive (cI857) repressor, and allow easy detection of inserted fragments by inactivation of alpha-complementation.     

A plasmid vector with temperature-controlled gene expression

A 169 b.p. fragment including the bla gene promoter p3 has been removed from pBR327 plasmid, and the deleted plasmid used for cloning the TaqI/BglII-fragment of the lambda c1857ind- DNA containing promoter pR and gene cI to obtain plasmid pCE119. Cells containing pCE119 produced a high level of beta-lactamase at 42 degrees C, the yield at 42 degrees C being 100 times higher than at 32 degrees C. For cloning and functional assays a pCEZ12 plasmid was constructed, in which promoter pR and repressor cI of lambda phage control the expression of the semi-synthetic beta-galactosidase gene. Yield of beta-galactosidase produced by pCEZ12 at 42 degrees C was ca. 300 times higher than at 32 degrees C.     

Improved plasmid vectors with a thermoinducible expression and temperature-regulated runaway replication

Improved expression vectors have been constructed which are derived from runaway-replication mutants of plasmid R1 and carry the strong leftward promoter (pL) of bacteriophage lambda. The activity of this promoter is controlled by a temperature-sensitive repressor, product of the phage gene cI cloned on a compatible plasmid. Heat induction leads to amplification of the plasmid copy number and at the same time turns on the promoter. At a short distance downstream from the promoter, unique EcoRI, BamHI, XbaI and HindIII sites are present. This system was used for high level expression of the T4 DNA-ligase gene; 3 h after induction the ligase amounted to about 20% of total cellular protein.