大肠杆菌苯丙氨酸合成途径关键酶基因pheA的克隆与表达

为了通过基因工程手段来增加苯丙氨酸的生物产量,利用ＰＣＲ方法从大肠杆菌中克隆了抗反馈抑制突变型及野生型的ｐｈｅＡ基因,进行了核苷酸序列分析,并利用高效的原核表达载体ＰＢＶ２２０对ｐｈｅＡ基因编码的突变型及野生型分支酸变位酶／预苯酸脱水酶（ＣＭ／ＰＤ）进行了表达。序列分析表明突变型基因碱基第５８０位由Ｔ变为Ｃ,相应氨基酸由Ｖａｌ变为Ａｌａ,ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ图谱扫描分析表明目的蛋白ＣＭ／ＰＤ的表达量占全菌体蛋白的４３％,占上清总蛋白的５７％。酶活性测定表明其ＣＭ和 ＰＤ活性分别提高了 １５．５和６．７倍,产酸量也有了一定的提高,为构建产苯丙氨酸的生物工程菌奠定了基础。     

Role of ribosome degradation in the death of starved Escherichia coli cells.

In Escherichia coli cultures limited for phosphate, the number of ribosomal particles was reduced to a small percentage of its earlier peak value by the time the viable cell count began to drop; the 30S subunits decreased more than the 50S subunits. Moreover, the ribosomal activity was reduced even more: these cells no longer synthesized protein, and their extracts could not translate phage RNA unless ribosomes were added. The translation initiation factors also disappeared, suggesting that they become less stable when released from their normal attachment to 30S subunits. In contrast, elongation factors, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, and tRNA persisted. During further incubation, until viability was reduced to 10(-5), the ribosomal particles disappeared altogether, while tRNA continued to be preserved. These results suggest that an excessive loss of ribosomes (and of initiation factors) may be a major cause of cell death during prolonged phosphate starvation.     

Construction of Escherichia coli gene expression level perturbation collection

We generated 61 strains of Escherichia coli in which the expression level of a specific single gene can be changed continuously over a physiologically significant range. In each strain, one auxotrophic gene was deleted from its original position and reinserted at a specific position on the chromosome under the control of the tetA promoter. Therefore, the level of expression of the target gene can be controlled easily by altering the concentrations of inducers, e.g., anhydrotetracycline and doxycycline, in the medium. Protein and mRNA levels and changes in proliferation rate were examined in some of the strains in our collection to determine the ability to control the level of target gene expression over a physiologically significant range. These strains will be useful for extracting omics data sets and for the construction of genome-scale mathematical models, because causality between perturbations in gene expression level and their consequences can be clearly determined.     

RNA-protein interactions in the Escherichia coli ribosome.

Over the last two decades essentially three different approaches have been used to study the topography of RNA-protein interactions in the ribosome. These are: (a) the analysis of binding sites for individual ribosomal proteins or groups of proteins on the RNA; (b) the determination of protein footprint sites on the RNA by the application of higher order structure analytical techniques; and (c) the localisation of RNA-protein cross-link sites on the RNA. This article compares and contrasts the types of data that the three different approaches provide, and gives a brief and highly simplified summary of the results that have been obtained for both the 16S and 23S ribosomal RNA from E coli.     

Phenylalanine production by metabolically engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum with the pheA gene of Escherichia coli

The bifunctional enzyme chorismate mutase (CM)-prephenate dehydratase (PD), which is encoded by the pheA gene of Escherichia coli, catalyses the two consecutive key steps in phenylalanine biosynthesis. To utilize the enzyme for metabolic engineering of phenylalanine-producing Corynebacterium glutamicum KY10694, the intact gene was cloned on a multicopy vector to yield pEA11. C. glutamicum cells transformed with pEA11 exhibited a more than tenfold increase in CM and PD activities relative to the host cells. Moreover, the level of pheA expression was further elevated a fewfold when cells were starved of phenylalanine, suggesting that the attenuation regulation of pheA expression functions in heterogeneous C. glutanicum. Plasmid pEA11 encoding the wild-type enzyme was mutated to yield pEA22, which specified CM-PD exhibiting almost complete resistance to end-product inhibition. When pEA22 was introduced into KY10694, both the activities of CM and PD were highly maintained throughout the cultivation, thus leading to a 35% increased production (23 g/l) of phenylalanine.     

Cloning of the Escherichia coli release factor 2 gene.

The protein release factor 2 (RF2) participates in Escherichia coli polypeptide chain termination with codon specificity (UAA or UGA). A colicin E1 recombinant identified in the Carbon and Clarke E. coli bank contains the protein release factor 2 gene. A 1.7-kilobase E. coli fragment has been subcloned into the plasmid pUC9 vector. Bacterial cells, containing the plasmid recombinant, produce elevated levels of protein release factor 2 as detected by an immune precipitation assay and in vitro measurement of UGA-directed peptide chain termination and [3H]UGA codon recognition.     

Sequence of the gene (pheA) encoding phenol monooxygenase from Pseudomonas sp. EST1001: expression in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida.

The plasmid pEST1412 contains the genes, pheA and pheB, encoding phenol monooxygenase (PMO) and catechol 1,2-dioxygenase (C12]), respectively. Thse were originally cloned from the plasmid DNA of Pseudomonas sp. EST1001 [Kivisaar et al., Plasmid 24 (1990) 25-36]. Although pheA and pheB are cotranscribed using the promoter sequences derived from Tn4652 and the level of expression of C120 activities from pEST1412 was equal both in Escherichia coli and in Pseudomonas putida, the level of PMO activity measured in the cell-free extracts of E. coli was lower than that in P. putida. The nucleotide sequence of the 2.0-kb PstI-HindIII fragment of pEST1412 carrying pheA was determined. A 1821-bp ORF was found in this DNA. The structural gene (tfdB) encoding 2,4-dichlorophenol hydroxylase from pJP4 has been sequenced [Perkins et al., J. Bacteriol. 172 (1990) 2351-2359]. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of tfdB and pheA revealed highly conserved regions in the protein products of these genes.     

Control of basal level activity of beta-falactosidase in Escherichia coli

Summary E. coli 15 and its derivatives contain about ten times more -galactosidase in the absence of inducer than K12- or B-strains. The maximally induced level is the same in all strains. The elevated basal-level of enzyme in 15-strains is not inhibited by o-nitrophenyl--D-fucoside. The repressor of the lac-operon seems to have the same affinity for the inducer in all strains. Functional analysis reveals that the higher basal-level is due to the i-gene product of 15-strains. It is concluded that 15-strains contain either an altered repressor with lower affinity for the operator or a smaller amount of repressor than K12-strains. The data are discussed in relation to the problem of the control of repressor formation.     

Interaction of the release factors with the Escherichia coli ribosome: structurally and functionally-important domains.

There are two major domains of interaction between the Escherichia coli release factors (RF-1 and RF-2) and each subunit of the ribosome. RF-2 has a binding domain on the shoulder and lower head region of the small subunit at the small lobe distant from the decoding site. This is in close proximity to one of the domains on the large subunit which includes the body dimer of L7/L12 and L11. The other domains of interaction, at the decoding site on the small subunit, and at the peptidyltransferase centre of the large subunit of the ribosome, are some distance from the first two, although the evidence for direct contact with the ribosome is less comprehensive. The release factors may therefore have two distinct structural domains, and in support of this concept RF-1 and RF-2 can both be cleaved into two fragments by papain. Region-specific antibodies, and antibodies against defined peptide within the RF sequences have given an indication that a significant part of an interacting RF molecule is in close proximity to the ribosome surface, confirming an observation by immunoelectron microscopy which suggested that the RF penetrates deeply into the cleft between the two subunits. A region of highly conserved primary sequence between the two release factors from E coli is also conserved in those from B subtilis suggesting it forms an important structural or functional domain. Antibodies against peptides from the N-terminal end of this region strongly inhibit binding of the RF to the ribosome.     

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the ribosome from Escherichia coli.

Three-dimensional image reconstruction has been applied to electron micrographs of noncrystalline, negatively stained ribosomes obtained from Escherichia coli. Several independent reconstructions all show an overall appearance resembling models that had been derived earlier by direct visual interpretation of electron micrographs. The reconstructed ribosomes show numerous structural details not recognized previously, some of which may be functionally significant. A large elongate cavity (approximately 8-nm long x 5-nm wide x 6-nm [maximal] deep) is present on the surface of the ribosome near the base of its stalk and is identifiable as a portion of a feature termed the interface canyon, which was detected in prior reconstructions of the large ribosomal subunit (Radermacher, M., T. Wagenknecht, A. Verschoor, and J. Frank. 1987. EMBO (Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.) J. 6:1107-1114). On the back of the ribosome, near the base of the central protuberance, is a hole leading to the interface canyon, which likely represents an exit site for the elongating polypeptide produced during protein biosynthesis. The exposed portion of the interface canyon appears well suited to bind two tRNA molecules in a configuration that is consistent with biochemical and structural data on the mechanism of peptide bond biosynthesis.     

Control of rRNA synthesis in Escherichia coli at increased rrn gene dosage. Role of guanosine tetraphosphate and ribosome feedback.

The effects of extra, plasmid-borne rRNA genes on the synthesis rate of rRNA in Escherichia coli were examined by measuring the fraction of total RNA synthesis that is rRNA and tRNA (rs/rt), the cytoplasmic concentration of guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp), and the absolute rates of RNA and protein synthesis. Experiments were carried out in different growth media and with two different strains of E. coli, B/r and K-12. The results indicated: 1) increased rrn gene dosage from either intact or defective rrn genes reduced bacterial growth rates and ribosome activity (protein synthesis rate/average ribosome), and increased rs/rt. 2) Extra intact, but not extra defective, plasmid-borne rrn genes caused the level of ppGpp to be increased in comparison to the pBR322-carrying control strain. 3) As a function of ppGpp, rs/rt was increased with either intact or defective rrn genes. 4) The rRNA synthesis rate/rrn gene was reduced in the presence of extra rrn genes; this reduction in gene activity was greater with intact than with defective rrn genes. An analysis of these results showed that they are consistent with the ppGpp hypothesis of rRNA control but not with a feedback effector role of translating ribosomes.     

Proteins associated with rRNA in the Escherichia coli ribosome.

Ribosomal proteins located near the rRNA have been identified by cross linking to [14C]spermine with 1,5-difluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. The polyamine binds to double-stranded rRNA; those proteins showing radioactivity covalently bound after treatment with the bifunctional reagent should therefore be located in the vicinity of these regions of rRNA. Six proteins from the small subunit, S4, S5, S9, S18, S19 and S20 and ten proteins from the large subunit L2, L6, L13, L14, L16, L17, L18, L19, L22 and L27 preferentially take up the label. The results obtained with three proteins from the large subunit, L6, L16 and L27, show a high degree of variability that could reflect differences of conformation in the subunit population. Several proteins were drastically modified by the cross-linking agent but were not detected in the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (e.g., S1, S11, S21, L7, L8 and L12) and therefore could not be studied.