Mathematical Model of Growth and Heterologous Hantavirus Protein Production of the Recombinant Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A segregated mathematical model was developed for the analysis and interpretation of cultivation data of growth of the recombinant yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae on multiple substrates (glucose, maltose, pyruvate, ethanol, acetate, and galactose). The model accounts for substrate consumption, plasmid stability, and production level of a model protein, a modified nucleocapsid protein of the Puumala virus. Recombinant nucleocapsid proteins from different Hantaviruses have previously been demonstrated as suitable antigens for diagnostics as well as for sero‐epidemiological studies. The model is based on a system of 10 nonlinear ordinary differential equations and accounts for the influence of various factors, e.g., selective pressure for enhancing plasmid stability by formaldehyde or the toxic effects of the intracellular accumulation of the heterologous protein on cell growth and product yield. The model allows the growth of two populations of cells to be simulated: plasmid‐bearing and plasmid‐free yeast cells, which have lost the plasmid during cultivation. Based on the model, sensitivity studies in respect to parameter changes were performed. These enabled, for example, the evaluation of the impact of an increase in the initial concentration of nutrients and growth factors (e.g., vitamins, microelements, etc.) on the biomass yield and the heterologous protein production level. As expected, the productivity of the heterologous protein in S. cerevisiae is closely correlated with plasmid stability. The 25 free model parameters, including the yield coefficients for different growth stages and dynamic constants, were estimated by nonlinear techniques, and the model was validated against a data set not used for parameter estimation. The simulation results were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Plasmid‐free T7‐based Escherichia coli expression systems

In order to release host cells from plasmid‐mediated increases in metabolic load and high gene dosages, we developed a plasmid‐free, T7‐based E. coli expression system in which the target gene is site‐specifically integrated into the genome of the host. With this system, plasmid‐loss, a source of instability for conventional expression systems, was eliminated. At the same time, system leakiness, a challenging problem with recombinant systems, was minimized. The efficiency of the T7 RNA polymerase compensates for low gene dosage and provides high rates of recombinant gene expression without fatal consequences to host metabolism. Relative to conventional pET systems, this system permits improved process stability and increases the host cell's capacity for recombinant gene expression, resulting in higher product yields. The stability of the plasmid‐free system was proven in chemostat cultivation for 40 generations in a non‐induced and for 10 generations in a fully induced state. For this reason plasmid‐free systems benefit the development of continuous production processes with E. coli. However, time and effort of the more complex cloning procedure have to be considered in relation to the advantages of plasmid‐free systems in upstream‐processing. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010. 105: 786–794. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

LC-MS/MS-based metabolic profiling of Escherichia coli under heterologous gene expression stress

Escherichia coli is frequently exploited for genetic manipulations and heterologous gene expression studies. We have evaluated the metabolic profile of E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) RIL CodonPlus after genetic modifications and subjecting to the production of recombinant protein. Three genetically variable E. coli cell types were studied, normal cells (susceptible to antibiotics) cultured in simple LB medium, cells harboring ampicillin-resistant plasmid pET21a (+), grown under antibiotic stress, and cells having recombinant plasmid pET21a (+) ligated with bacterial lactate dehydrogenase gene grown under ampicillin and standard isopropyl thiogalactoside (IPTG)-induced gene expression conditions. A total of 592 metabolites were identified through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry analysis, feature and peak detection using XCMS and CAMERA followed by precursor identification by METLIN-based procedures. Overall, 107 metabolites were found differentially regulated among genetically modified cells. Quantitative analysis has shown a significant modulation in DHNA-CoA, p-aminobenzoic acid, and citrulline levels, indicating an alteration in vitamin K, folic acid biosynthesis, and urea cycle of E. coli cells during heterologous gene expression. Modulations in energy metabolites including NADH, AMP, ADP, ATP, carbohydrate, terpenoids, fatty acid metabolites, diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A), and l -carnitine advocate major metabolic rearrangements. Our study provides a broader insight into the metabolic adaptations of bacterial cells during gene manipulation experiments that can be prolonged to improve the yield of heterologous gene products and concomitant production of valuable biomolecules.     

Scale‐down of continuous protein producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae cultivations using a two‐compartment system

In the biotechnological industry, economic decisions in investment are typically based on laboratory‐scale experiments. Scale‐down as a tool is therefore of high industrial importance to transfer the processes into larger production scale without loss in performance. In this study, large‐scale prolonged continuous cultivations with a heterologous protein producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain have been scaled‐down to a two‐compartment scale‐down reactor system. The effects of glucose, pH, and oxygen concentration gradients have been investigated by comparison with corresponding 300 mL standard continuous cultivations. It was found that substrate gradients within a limited range result in increased productivity of the heterologous protein under regulation of glycolytic TPI promoter and delay the decrease of protein and trehalose production during continuous cultivation. Based on these results, it is argued that introduction of variations in substrate concentration can be beneficial for industrial continuous cultivations. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:152–159, 2016     

Enhanced high copy number plasmid maintenance and heterologous protein production in an Escherichia coli biofilm

Escherichia coli has been widely used for heterologous protein production (HPP). To determine whether a biofilm environment could benefit E. coli HPP using high copy number plasmids, we compared plasmid maintenance and HPP by E. coli ATCC 33456 containing plasmid pEGFP (a pUC family vector) cultivated in biofilms and in suspended culture. Cells were grown with or without antibiotic selective pressure in flow cells or chemostats for up to 6 days. In biofilms, antibiotic selective pressure increased the plasmid copy number (PCN), but by 144 h, biofilms grown in antibiotic-free media had comparable plasmid concentrations. In the chemostat, the PCN declined steadily, although 100 ppm ampicillin in the medium slowed the rate of plasmid loss. Production of green fluorescent protein (GFP), a representative heterologous protein, was quantified by flow cytometry. In biofilms, at ampicillin concentrations >or=33 ppm, strongly fluorescent cells comprised more than half of the population by 48 h. In the chemostat, more than 50% of the population was non-fluorescent by 48 h in media containing 100 ppm ampicillin, and strongly fluorescent cells were <10% of the population. Biofilm structure was determined by confocal microscopy. Maximum biofilm thickness ranged from 30 to 45 microns, with no significant changes in biofilm structure after 48 h. Plasmid multimer percentages were similar to inocula for cells cultivated in either biofilms or the chemostat. The results indicate that the biofilm environment enhanced both plasmid maintenance and cellular GFP concentrations, and that low levels of antibiotic increased the beneficial effect.     

Proteomic differences in recombinant CHO cells producing two similar antibody fragments

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the most commonly used mammalian hosts for the production of biopharmaceuticals. To overcome unfavorable features of CHO cells, a lot of effort is put into cell engineering to improve phenotype. “Omics” studies investigating elevated growth rate and specific productivities as well as extracellular stimulus have already revealed many interesting engineering targets. However, it remains largely unknown how physicochemical properties of the recombinant product itself influence the host cell. In this study, we used quantitative label‐free LC‐MS proteomic analyses to investigate product‐specific proteome differences in CHO cells producing two similar antibody fragments. We established recombinant CHO cells producing the two antibodies, 3D6 and 2F5, both as single‐chain Fv‐Fc homodimeric antibody fragments (scFv‐Fc). We applied three different vector strategies for transgene delivery (i.e., plasmid, bacterial artificial chromosome, recombinase‐mediated cassette exchange), selected two best performing clones from transgene variants and transgene delivery methods and investigated three consecutively passaged cell samples by label‐free proteomic analysis. LC‐MS‐MS profiles were compared in several sample combinations to gain insights into different aspects of proteomic changes caused by overexpression of two different heterologous proteins. This study suggests that not only the levels of specific product secretion but the product itself has a large impact on the proteome of the cell. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 1902–1912. © 2016 The Authors. Biotechnology and Bioengineering Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Plasmid stability of recombinant Pseudomonas sp. B13 FR1 pFRC20P in continuous culture

Plasmid stability of recombinant Pseudomonas sp. B13 FR1 pFRC20P, a strain capable of mineralizing 3- and 4-chlorobenzoate and 4-methylbenzoate, was investigated in continuous culture. The hybrid cosmid pFRC20P enables the strain to mineralize 4-methylbenzoate. Rapid plasmid loss was observed under nonselective conditions using 3-chlorobenzoate as the substrate. Plasmid stability decreased with increasing dilution rate. Despite the growth advantage of the generated plasmid free cells a total depletion of plasmid bearing cells was not observed. After approximately 50 generations the fraction of plasmid bearing cells reached a constant level of 10%, which was stably maintained during the next 25 generations. Cells from this stage were used to inoculate a new culture that resulted in a stable level of 50% plasmid bearing cells. By a temporary substrate change to selective conditions (4-methylbenzoate), this level could be further increased to 70%. Literature models on plasmid stability could not be applied to describe the experimental data. Therefore, a new but unstructured model was developed to describe the experimental results. The model is based on the existence of three subpopulations: a plasmid free one, an original plasmid bearing one with a growth disadvantage compared to plasmid free cells, and a second plasmid bearing subpopulation with increased stability that is generated from the original one and has a growth rate comparable to the plasmid free cells.     

Construction and performance of heterologous polyketide‐producing K‐12‐ and B‐derived Escherichia coli

Aims: Escherichia coli has emerged as a viable heterologous host for the production of complex, polyketide natural compounds. In this study, polyketide biosynthesis was compared between different E. coli strains for the purpose of better understanding and improving heterologous production. Methods and Results: Both B and K‐12 E. coli strains were genetically modified to support heterologous polyketide biosynthesis [specifically, 6‐deoxyerythronolide B (6dEB)]. Polyketide production was analysed using a helper plasmid designed to overcome rare codon usage within E. coli. Each strain was analysed for recombinant protein production, precursor consumption, by‐product production, and 6dEB biosynthesis. Of the strains tested for biosynthesis, 6dEB production was greatest for E. coli B strains. When comparing biosynthetic improvements as a function of mRNA stability vs codon bias, increased 6dEB titres were observed when additional rare codon tRNA molecules were provided. Conclusions: Escherichia coli B strains and the use of tRNA supplementation led to improved 6dEB polyketide titres. Significance and Impact of the Study: Given the medicinal potential and growing field of polyketide heterologous biosynthesis, the current study provides insight into host‐specific genetic backgrounds and gene expression parameters aiding polyketide production through E. coli.     

Enhanced plasmid stability through post-segregational killing of plasmid-free cells

Summary In order to develop an extremely stable, inducible host/vector system, the following genetic manipulations were made: a recA mutation was introduced into the chromosome of the host strain, the plasmid selectable marker was changed from ampicillin to kanamycin, and the parB stability locus of plasmid R1 was added to the plasmid. The stability of the new vector, pTKW106, was increased such that the fraction of plasmid-bearing cells present during chemostat fermentations under selective pressure increased from 1.75% to 100% when plasmid protein production was fully induced. At this level of induction, -galactosidase represents 10% of the total cell protein. In addition, the frequency of generation of plasmid-free cells was shown to decrease from 1.0 per generation to less than 10^–11 with full promoter induction under non-selective conditions.     

Inducible Amplification of Gene Copy Number and Heterologous Protein Production in the Yeast Kluyveromyces lactis

Heterologous protein production can be doubled by increasing the copy number of the corresponding heterologous gene. We constructed a host-vector system in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis that was able to induce copy number amplification of pKD1 plasmid-based vectors upon expression of an integrated copy of the plasmid recombinase gene. We increased the production and secretion of two heterologous proteins, glucoamylase from the yeast Arxula adeninivorans and mammalian interleukin-1β, following gene dosage amplification when the heterologous genes were carried by pKD1-based vectors. The choice of the promoters for expression of the integrated recombinase gene and of the episomal heterologous genes are critical for the mitotic stability of the host-vector system.     

Agitation rate effects on plasmid stability in immobilized and free-cell continuous cultures of recombinant E. coli

Escherichia coli B/pTG201 recombinant cells were immobilized by entrapment in a carrageenan gel and cultivated in nonselective media to investigate the effect of agitation rate on plasmid stability, biomass concentration, and enzyme productivity. These parameters were studied in continuous cultures for free and immobilized cells, respectively. Immobilized recombinant cells exhibit an increase in the stability of the plasmid pTG201 compared to free cells, even under conditions where the tendency of plasmid stability for free cells decreased generally more rapidly under a higher agitation rate. Intensive agitation, resulting also in a strong shear stress, greatly reduced cell concentration within gel beads throughout the course of growth. Higher enzyme expression of catechol 2–3, dioxygenase was also obtained in leaked cells due to better maintenance of plasmid stability and higher plasmid copy number with regard to free cells. Enzyme productivity of leaked and free cells in minimal medium decreased with the increase in agitation rate, due to decreased plasmid stability; however, in LB medium, it increased in the presence of higher agitation rate related to important cell concentration.     

Efficient strategies to enhance plasmid stability for fermentation of recombinant Escherichia coli harboring tyrosine phenol lyase

Objective

To solve the bottleneck of plasmid instability during microbial fermentation of l-DOPA with recombinant Escherichia coli expressing heterologous tyrosine phenol lyase.

Results

The tyrosine phenol lyase from Fusobacterium nucleatum was constitutively expressed in E. coli and a fed-batch fermentation process with temperature down-shift cultivation was performed. Efficient strategies including replacing the original ampicillin resistance gene, as well as inserting cer site that is active for resolving plasmid multimers were applied. As a result, the plasmid stability was increased. The co-use of cer site on plasmid and kanamycin in culture medium resulted in proportion of plasmid containing cells maintained at 100% after fermentation for 35 h. The specific activity of tyrosine phenol lyase reached 1493 U/g dcw, while the volumetric activity increased from 2943 to 14,408 U/L for l-DOPA biosynthesis.

Conclusions

The established strategies for plasmid stability is not only promoted the applicability of the recombinant cells for l-DOPA production, but also provides important guidance for industrial fermentation with improved microbial productivity.

     

Heterologous expression of a gene of Magnaporthe oryzae chrysovirus 1 strain A disrupts growth of the human pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans

Magnaporthe oryzae chrysovirus 1 strain A (MoCV1‐A) is the causal agent of growth repression and attenuated virulence (hypovirulence) of the rice blast fungus, M. oryzae. We have previously reported that heterologous expression of MoCV1‐A ORF4 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae results in growth defects, a large central vacuole and other cytological changes. In this study, the effects of open reading frame (ORF) 4 expression in Cryptococcus neoformans, a human pathogenic fungus responsible for severe opportunistic infection, were investigated. Cells expressing the ORF4 gene in C. neoformans showed remarkably enlarged vacuoles, nuclear diffusion and a reduced growth rate. In addition, expression of ORF4 apparently suppressed formation of the capsule that surrounds the entire cell wall, which is one of the most important components of expression of virulence. After 5‐fluoroorotic acid treatment of ORF4‐expressing cells to remove the plasmid carrying the ORF4 gene, the resultant plasmid‐free cells recovered normal morphology and growth, indicating that heterologous expression of the MoCV1‐A ORF4 gene induces negative effects in C. neoformans. These data suggest that the ORF4 product is a candidate for a pharmaceutical protein to control disease caused by C. neoformans.     

Stability of the pBR322 plasmid derivative pBB210 in Escherichia coli TG1 under non-selective and selective conditions

The stability behaviour of the pBR322 plasmid derivative pBB210 with β-lactamase gene and human interferon-α1 gene in Escherichia coli TG1 was studied in chemostat cultures under non-selective (medium without antibiotics), selective (medium with β-lactam antibiotic ampicillin) and modified selective (medium with ampicillin and the β-lactamase inhibitor sulbactam) conditions. Under non-selective conditions, a behaviour typical of unstable systems was found. Under selective conditions, the behaviour predicted by the models was obtained – the fraction of plasmid-bearing cells in the population approached a constant value which was dependent on the ampicillin concentration in the feeding and on the cell concentration in the chemostat. Under modified selective conditions, the higher the concentration of sulbactam in the medium was, the higher the fraction of plasmid-bearing cells was in steady state conditions.     

A gene, SMP2, involved in plasmid maintenance and respiration in Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a highly charged protein

Summary The smp2 mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae shows increased stability of the heterologous plasmid pSR1 and YRp plasmids. A DNA fragment bearing the SMP2 gene was cloned by its ability to complement the slow growth of the smp2 smp3 double mutant (smp3 is another mutation conferring increased stability of plasmid pSR1). The nucleotide sequence of SMP2 indicated that it encodes a highly charged 95 kDa protein. Disruption of the genomic SMP2 gene resulted in a respiration-deficient phenotype, although the cells retained mitochondrial DNA, and showed increased stability of pSR1 like the original smp2 mutant. The fact that the smp2 mutant is not always respiration deficient and shows increased pSR1 stability even in a rho ⁰ strain lacking mitochondrial DNA suggested that the function of the Smp2 protein in plasmid maintenance is independent of respiration. The SMP2 locus was mapped at a site 71 cM from lys7 and 21 cM from ilv2/SMR1 on the right arm of chromosome XIII.     

Modulating heterologous protein production in yeast: the applicability of truncated auxotrophic markers

The use of auxotrophic Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for improved production of a heterologous protein was examined. Two different marker genes were investigated, encoding key enzymes in the metabolic pathways for amino acid (LEU2) and pyrimidine (URA3) biosynthesis, respectively. Expression plasmids, carrying the partly defective selection markers LEU2d and URA3d, were constructed. Two CEN.PK-derived strains were chosen and insulin analogue precursor was selected as a model protein. Different truncations of the LEU2 and URA3 promoters were used as the mean to titrate the plasmid copy number and thus the recombinant gene dosage in order to improve insulin productivity. Experiments were initially carried out in batch mode to examine the stability of yeast transformants and to select high yielding mutants. Next, chemostat cultivations were run at high cell density to address industrial applicability and long-term expression stability of the transformants. We found that the choice of auxotrophic marker is crucial for developing a yeast expression system with stable heterologous protein production. The incremental truncation of the URA3 promoter led to higher plasmid copy numbers and IAP yields, whereas the truncation of the LEU2 promoter caused low plasmid stability. We show that the modification of the level of the recombinant gene dosage by varying the degree of promoter truncation can be a strong tool for optimization of productivity. The application of the URA3d-based expression systems showed a high potential for industrial protein production and for further academic studies.     

Probing the heterologous metabolism supporting 6‐deoxyerythronolide B biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

Heterologous biosynthesis offers a new way to capture the medicinal properties presented by complex natural products. In this study, production of 6‐deoxyerythronolide B (6dEB), the polyketide precursor to the antibiotic erythromycin, was used to probe the heterologous pathways needed for Escherichia coli‐derived biosynthesis. More specifically, the heterologous proteins responsible for 6dEB production were varied by adjusting their respective gene dosage levels. In this way, heterologous components required for posttranslational modification, 6dEB biosynthesis, and substrate provision were adjusted in expression levels to observe the relative effect each has on final heterologous biosynthesis. The results indicate that both the biosynthetic and substrate provision heterologous proteins impact 6dEB formation to a greater extent when compared with posttranslational modification and suggest these components for future protein and metabolic engineering.     

Heterologous erythromycin production across strain and plasmid construction

The establishment of erythromycin production within the heterologous host E. coli marked an accomplishment in genetic transfer capacity. Namely, over 20 genes and 50 kb of DNA was introduced to E. coli for successful heterologous biosynthetic reconstitution. However, the prospect for production levels that approach those of the native host requires the application of engineering tools associated with E. coli. In this report, metabolic and genomic engineering were implemented to improve the E. coli cellular background and the plasmid platform supporting heterologous erythromycin formation. Results include improved plasmid stability and metabolic support for biosynthetic product formation. Specifically, the new plasmid design for erythromycin formation allowed for ≥89% stability relative to current standards (20% stability). In addition, the new strain (termed LF01) designed to improve carbon flow to the erythromycin biosynthetic pathway provided a 400% improvement in titer level. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 34:271–276, 2018     

Effect of environmental growth conditions on plasmid stability, plasmid copy number, and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity in free and immobilized Escherichia coli cells

In order to better understand the high plasmid stability in immobilized recombinant E. coli cells, the effects of dilution rate on the pTG201 plasmid stability, the copy number, and the catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (encoded by XyIE gene) production were, at first, studied in free E. coli W3101 continuous cultures in minimal media. It was found that decreasing specific growth rate increased the plasmid copy number and the catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity but the stability decreased. In continuous culture with immobilized cells, an increase was shown in plasmid copy number and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity probably due to the distribution of growth in the gel beads. Besides mechanical properties of gel beads which may allow limited cell divisions, the increase in plasmid copy number is involved in enhanced plasmid stability in immobilized cells. In the same way, an experiment conducted in LB medium dealing with competition between pTG201-free and pTG201-containing E. coli B cells was described. It was shown that the competition was not more pronounced in gel bead compared to a free system. The effects of nutritional limitations on pTG201 plasmid stability and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity during chemostat cultivations in free and immobilized E. coli B cells were also investigated. It was found that immobilization of cells increased the stability of pTG201 even under glucose, nitrogen, or phosphate limited cultures. However in the case of magnesium depleted culture, pTG201 was shown to be relatively instable and a decrease in viable cell number during the immobilized continuous culture was observed. By contrast to the free system, the catechol 2,3-dioxygenase activity increased in immobilized cells under all culture conditions used.     

Performance and stability of ethanologenic Escherichia coli strain FBR5 during continuous culture on xylose and glucose

Escherichia coli FBR5 containing recombinant genes for ethanol production on plasmids that are also required for anaerobic growth was cultivated continuously on 50 g/l xylose or glucose in the absence of antibiotics and without the use of special measures to limit the entry of oxygen into the fermenter. Under chemostat conditions, stable ethanol yields of ca. 80–85% of the theoretical were obtained on both sugars over 26 days at dilution rates of 0.045/h (xylose) and 0.075/h (glucose), with average plasmid retention rates of 96% (xylose) and 97% (glucose). In a continuous fluidized bed fermenter, with the cells immobilized on porous glass beads, the extent of plasmid retention by the free cells fell rapidly, while that of the immobilized cells remained constant. This was shown to be due to diffusion of oxygen through the tubing used to recirculate the medium and free cells. A change to oxygen-impermeable tubing led to a stable high rate of plasmid retention (more than 96% of both the free and immobilized cells) with ethanol yields of ca. 80% on a 50 g/l xylose feed. The maximum permissible level of oxygen availability consistent with high plasmid retention by the strain appears to be of the order of 0.1 mmol per hour per gram dry biomass, based on measurements of the rate of oxygen penetration into the fermenters. Revertant colonies lacking the ethanologenic plasmid were easily detectable by their morphology which correlated well with their lack of ampicillin resistance upon transfer plating.