Identification and characterization of genetically programmed responses to toxic metal exposure in Escherichia coli

Abstract: In order to identify chromosomal genetically programmed responses to toxic metal exposure, a library of 3000 Escherichia coli clones was created that contained the promoterless luxAB genes of Vibrio harveyi inserted at single and random chromosomal loci. Changes in gene expression, as measured by a change in luminescence, were monitored after exposure of the clones to various metals. In this manner, we have identified two clones that showed an increase in luminescence in the presence of aluminum, one clone in the presence of nickel, and two clones in the presence of selenite. Identification of the metal-induced gene(s), and characterization of their biochemical function, will provide important clues about the effects of these metals at the molecular level.     

转铁蛋白受体单链抗体与链亲和素融合基因的克隆及其在大肠杆菌中的可溶性表达

目的:转铁蛋白受体特异性富含于血脑屏障和肿瘤细胞的表面,是当前中枢神经系统疾病和肿瘤治疗中定向转运的重要靶标。拟获得在大肠杆菌中能高效可溶表达的转铁蛋白受体单链抗体与链亲和素(SA)的重组融合蛋白。方法:根据GenBank数据库报道的SA的核苷酸序列分段合成基因,连接后经PCR获得完整的基因片段,插入pGEM-T载体中测序。将序列正确的SA基因与大鼠转铁蛋白受体单链抗体基因ox26-scFv分别插入原核表达载体pTIG-Trx中,构建重组表达克隆pTIG-Trx/scFv-SA,并在大肠杆菌中诱导表达。ELISA检测融合蛋白的生物学活性。结果:对pGEM-T/SA克隆的测序结果显示,合成的SA基因与文献报道相符。重组融合蛋白在大肠杆菌中获得了可溶性表达,约占菌体上清总蛋白量的30%;ELISA结果表明该融合蛋白具备与转铁蛋白受体和生物素的结合的双重活性。结论:有活性的重组融合蛋白的获得为构建一个通用性的以转铁蛋白受体介导的血脑屏障和肿瘤转运靶向载体打下了基础。     

Development of a noninvasive reporter system for gene expression in Porphyromonas gingivalis

Several reports have supported the association of Porphyromonas gingivalis with periodontal disease. Genetic studies are vital for understanding the relative importance of virulence factors in this organism. Thus, gene reporters may prove useful for the study of gene expression in this organism. We have investigated the use of the green fluorescent protein (GFP), bacterial luciferase, and bifunctional xylosidase/arabinosidase enzyme (XA) as reporters of gene expression in P. gingivalis. Fusion cassettes containing the promoterless tetracycline resistant gene [tetA(A)Q2] and the promoterless gfp, luxAB, or xa gene were placed under the control of the rgpA promoter in P. gingivalis W83 using recombinational allelic exchange. The rgpA gene encodes for an arginine-specific protease in P. gingivalis. No GFP activity was detected in P. gingivalis isogenic mutants carrying the rgpA::gfp-tetA(Q)2 fusion construct. Luciferase activity in P. gingivalis mutants carrying the rgpA::luxAB-tetA(Q)2 fusion was only detected in the presence of exogenous FMNH(2). xa gene expression in P. gingivalis with the rgpA::xa-tetA(Q)2 fusion construct was detected in crude extracts using rho-nitrophenol derivatives as substrate and on agar plates with methylumbelliferyl derivatives under long-wave ultraviolet light. This indicates that both luxAB and xa genes can be used as reporters of gene expression in P. gingivalis. However, only the xa gene can be used as a noninvasive reporter gene.     

家蚕天蚕素cDNA原核表达及抗菌活性检测

采用RT-PCR方法从家蚕Bombyx mori新疆品种新蚕三号组织中扩增天蚕素cDNA片段,回收并克隆至Pmd18-T载体,进行序列分析。基因序列分析结果与已发表的天蚕素B的序列同源性为98%,表明所克隆的新疆家蚕天蚕素cDNA为独特的cDNA片段。将天蚕素基因与Pgex-4T-1融合表达载体中的谷胱甘肽转移酶基因融合,在大肠杆菌中表达, 结果表明经IPTG 诱导30 min后,pGEX-4T-1/天蚕素转化后的大肠杆菌生长明显受到抑制;当诱导210 min 后,大肠杆菌数量又开始增加,逐渐恢复至正常水平。说明天蚕素与谷胱甘肽转移酶基因融合表达后,在IPTG存在的短时间内仍然对原核细胞有较强的抗菌抑杀作用。     

Fasciola hepatica: heterologous expression and functional characterization of a thioredoxin peroxidase

A Fasciola hepatica cDNA clone of 779 bp was isolated from an adult worm cDNA expression library by immunological screening using a rabbit serum against the excretory-secretory antigens. The nucleotide sequence of the cDNA revealed the presence of an open reading frame of 582 bp which encoded a 194-amino-acid-residue polypeptide (M(r) 21,723 Da) showing a high degree of homology to thioredoxin peroxidases. This putative antioxidant protein gene was expressed in Escherichia coli as a GST fusion protein. The recombinant fusion protein showed in vitro antioxidant properties and protected rabbit muscle enolase and E. coli glutamine synthetase from inactivation by nonenzymatic Fe(3+)/O(2)/DTT or Fe(3+)/O(2)/ascorbate metal-catalyzed oxidation systems.     

鸡源抗菌肽Fowlicidin-2在大肠杆菌中的 重组表达及其生物学活性鉴定

【目的】对抗菌肽Fowlicidin-2基因进行克隆与表达,并鉴定其生物学活性。【方法】根据抗菌肽Fowlicidin-2氨基酸序列,依照大肠杆菌(E.coli)密码子的偏爱性,人工设计合成其编码基因。与质粒pET-32a连接,构建重组表达载体,转化表达宿主菌E.coliBL21(DE3),IPTG诱导表达,融合蛋白经溴化氰裂解后进行纯化,测定重组抗菌肽的抑菌活性。【结果】Fowlicidin-2融合蛋白以包涵体形式表达,经溴化氰裂解后,成功释放出Fowlicidin-2,获得的重组Fowlicidin-2对革兰氏阳性菌和革兰氏阴性菌均有明显的抑菌效果。【结论】实现了抗菌肽Fowlicidin-2的重组表达,为抗菌肽的重组量化制备提供了理论基础与技术手段。     

Reconstitution of acetosyringone-mediated Agrobacterium tumefaciens virulence gene expression in the heterologous host Escherichia coli

The ability to utilize Escherichia coli as a heterologous system in which to study the regulation of Agrobacterium tumefaciens virulence genes and the mechanism of transfer DNA (T-DNA) transfer would provide an important tool to our understanding and manipulation of these processes. We have previously reported that the rpoA gene encoding the alpha subunit of RNA polymerase is required for the expression of lacZ gene under the control of virB promoter (virBp::lacZ) in E. coli containing a constitutively active virG gene [virG(Con)]. Here we show that an RpoA hybrid containing the N-terminal 247 residues from E. coli and the C-terminal 89 residues from A. tumefaciens was able to significantly express virBp::lacZ in E. coli in a VirG(Con)-dependent manner. Utilization of lac promoter-driven virA and virG in combination with the A. tumefaciens rpoA construct resulted in significant inducer-mediated expression of the virBp::lacZ fusion, and the level of virBp::lacZ expression was positively correlated to the copy number of the rpoA construct. This expression was dependent on VirA, VirG, temperature, and, to a lesser extent, pH, which is similar to what is observed in A. tumefaciens. Furthermore, the effect of sugars on vir gene expression was observed only in the presence of the chvE gene, suggesting that the glucose-binding protein of E. coli, a homologue of ChvE, does not interact with the VirA molecule. We also evaluated other phenolic compounds in induction assays and observed significant expression with syringealdehyde, a low level of expression with acetovanillone, and no expression with hydroxyacetophenone, similar to what occurs in A. tumefaciens strain A348 from which the virA clone was derived. These data support the notion that VirA directly senses the phenolic inducer. However, the overall level of expression of the vir genes in E. coli is less than what is observed in A. tumefaciens, suggesting that additional gene(s) from A. tumefaciens may be required for the full expression of virulence genes in E. coli.     

Cloning and expression of Clostridium pasteurianum galactokinase gene in Escherichia coli K-12 and nucleotide sequence analysis of a region affecting the amount of the enzyme

The Clostridium pasteurianum galactokinase gene was cloned by complementation, of the galK locus, into Escherichia coli. Restriction enzyme analysis subcloning and Tn5 mutagenesis indicated that the gene was located on a 1.8 X 10(3) base-pair ClaI-Sau3A fragment that encoded a polypeptide of approximately 40 Mr. Although the C. pasteurianum and the E. coli galactokinases have similar subunit molecular weights, Southern hybridization analysis indicated no strong homology between their genes. Even though this clone showed a low level of galactokinase expression, the Gal+ phenotype, provided by the clostridial galactokinase, was unstable in E. coli, and the gene was frequently inactivated by the spontaneous acquisition of insertion sequences. A second clone containing this gene on a large restriction fragment was isolated by hybridization. This clone was unable to grow on galactose-containing media due to the overproduction of galactokinase. Comparison of the plasmids from these two clones revealed that the second contained an additional 300 base-pairs located at one end of the galactokinase gene. Appropriate operon fusions with a promoter-less E. coli galactokinase gene indicated that these additional 300 base-pairs had promoter activity in E. coli. The DNA sequence of this region which lies upstream of the C. pasteurianum galactokinase gene was determined and compared with that from several clones producing high, low or undetectable amounts of galactokinase. The reasons for the high and low level expression and for the instability of the C. pasteurianum galactokinase in E. coli are discussed. The presence of the galactokinase suggests that galactose is used in C. pasteurianum through the Leloir pathway via galactose 1-phosphate.     

Improvement of the bioluminescence reporter system for real-time monitoring of circadian rhythms in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803

Circadian rhythm is a self-sustaining oscillation whose period length coincides with the 24-hour day-night cycle. A powerful tool for circadian clock research is the real-time automated bioluminescence monitoring system in which a promoter region of a clock-controlled gene is fused to a luciferase reporter gene and rhythmic regulation of the promoter activity is monitored as bioluminescence. In the present study, we greatly improved the bioluminescence reporter system in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803. We fused an 805-bp promoter region of the dnaK gene seamlessly to the luxA coding sequence and integrated the P(dnaK)::luxAB fusion gene into a specific intergenic region of the Synechocystis genome (targeting site 1). The resulting new reporter strain, PdnaK::luxAB(-), showed 12 times the bioluminescence intensity of the standard reporter strain, CFC2. Furthermore, we generated strain PdnaK::luxAB(+), in which the P(dnaK)::luxAB fusion gene and the selection-marker spectinomycin resistance gene are transcribed in opposite directions. The PdnaK::luxAB(+) strain showed 19 times the bioluminescence intensity of strain CFC2. The procedures used to increase the bioluminescence intensity are especially useful for bioluminescence monitoring of genes with low promoter activity. In addition, these reporter constructs facilitate bioluminescence monitoring of any gene because the promoter fragments they contain can easily be replaced by digestion with unique restriction enzymes. They would therefore contribute to a genome-wide analysis of gene expression in Synechocystis.     

猪2型圆环病毒原核表达产物的免疫原性测定

目的检测猪2型圆环病毒(PCV2)全基因组原核表达产物的免疫原性。方法根据PCV2JXL株序列(GenBank登录号AY491310),设计合成引物,利用多聚酶链式反应(PCR)从含有PCV2接种猪肾细胞PK15中扩增了Cap蛋白的氨基端片段(737-421nt),克隆入上游带有谷光苷肽-S-转移酶的原核表达载体pGEX-6p-1中,获得重组质粒pGEX-PCV737-421。PCV2Cap蛋白羧基端(426-37nt)和Rep蛋白已在过去的研究中分别融合表达。利用IPTG对3种重组大肠杆菌BL21进行诱导,进行聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳分析(SDS-PAGE)以及对PCV2阳性猪多抗血清的蛋白免疫印迹试验,在此基础上,将3种SDS-PAGE分离粗纯的重组表达产物碾碎后分别免疫BALB/c小鼠,用获得的抗鼠血清与PCV2病毒感染PK15细胞做间接免疫荧光抗体试验(IFA)。结果PCV2Cap蛋白的氨基端片段能在大肠杆菌中表达,且Cap蛋白羧基端和Rep蛋白的原核表达产物都能在免疫印迹试验中被PCV2阳性猪血清检测出特异性条带,重组蛋白免疫鼠血清可在IFA试验中观察到特异性的荧光分布,即检测到培养细胞中的病毒抗原。结论PCV2全基因组都可以用原核系统高效表达,且表达产物具有免疫原性。     

HBcAg表达菌株的筛选、初步鉴定与DNA顺序分析

为提高HBcAg(乙型肝炎核心抗原)在大肠杆菌体内表达水平,将有HBcAg的基因片段用核酸外切酶从两端消化,插入载体质粒pUR222的EcoRI酶切位点,转化Ecoli BMH71—18,用菌落原位酶联免疫法由275个转化子筛选到7株阳性克隆,用ELISA比较了它们的表达水平,表达水平最高者为M2066菌株,P/N=2.0时菌体裂解液的稀泽度为1:33000’比表达最低者M2098高8,000倍,比第一代菌株M206高15,000倍,DNA顺序分析结果表明与mRNA起始密码上游的发卡结构去除有关。用SDS-PAGE和聚乙烯簿膜复印法检测菌体裂解液中HBcAg的分子量为21000,42000及63000,呈单体和聚合物形式存在,比由病人肝脏和血液中提取的HBcAg(19000)分子量大,为融合蛋白。经琼脂免疫双扩散与ELISA阻断试验未发现与β半乳糖苷酶有免疫学交叉反应。用ELIDA法,M2066-HBcAg与肝-HBcAg同时检测40份血清标本的抗-HBc,二者符合率95％。