Overexpression of the ABC transporter AvtAB increases avermectin production in Streptomyces avermitilis

Avermectins are 16-membered macrocyclic polyketides with potent antiparasitic activities, produced by Streptomyces avermitilis. Upstream of the avermectin biosynthetic gene cluster, there is the avtAB operon encoding the ABC transporter AvtAB, which is highly homologous to the mammalian multidrug efflux pump P-glycoprotein (Pgp). Inactivation of avtAB had no effect, but increasing the concentration of avtAB mRNA 30-500-fold, using a multi-copy plasmid in S. avermitilis, enhanced avermectin production about two-fold both in the wild-type and in a high-yield producer strain on agar plates. In liquid industrial fermentation medium, the overall productivity of avermectin B1a in the engineered high-yield producer was improved for about 50%, from 3.3 to 4.8?g/l. In liquid YMG medium, moreover, the ratio of intracellular to extracellular accumulation of avermectin B1a was dropped from 6:1 to 4.5:1 in response to multiple copies of avtAB. Additionally, the overexpression of avtAB did not cause any increased expression of the avermectin biosynthetic genes through RT-PCR analysis. We propose that the AvtAB transporter exports avermectin, and thus reduces the feedback inhibition on avermectin production inside the cell. This strategy may be useful for enhancing the production of other antibiotics.     

Screening of spontaneous and induced mutants in Streptomyces avermitilis enhances avermectin production

Because of the loss of productivity in industrial strains (as a consequence of genetic instability), the selection of spontaneous and induced mutants in Streptomyces might generate enhanced producers of bioactive compounds. In this work, a spontaneously high producing mutant of Streptomyces avermitilis, strain 267/2H, was isolated. This mutant produced 8.2 times more avermectin B₁ than the wild type and it was treated with methyl methanesulphonate (MMS) in order to obtain better avermectin producers. One mutant, strain IPT-85, produced about 16 times more avermectin than the wild-type strain ATCC 31267 and twice as much as the parental strain 267/2H. Reversion studies showed that avermectin production by the IPT-85 mutant was unstable and required constant selection to maintain high levels of avermectin B₁ production. Upon a second MMS treatment of IPT-85, a new avermectin-aglycone-producing mutant, strain IPT 85-62, was isolated. Received: 2 March 1999 / Received revision: 16 June 1999 / Accepted: 27 June 1999     

Alternative production of avermectin components in Streptomyces avermitilis by gene replacement

The avermectins are composed of eight compounds, which exhibit structural differences at three positions. A family of four closely-related major components, A1a, A2a, B1a and B2a, has been identified. Of these components, B1a exhibits the most potent antihelminthic activity. The coexistence of the "1" components and "2" components has been accounted for by the defective dehydratase of aveAI module 2, which appears to be responsible for C22-23 dehydration. Therefore, we have attempted to replace the dehydratase of aveAI module 2 with the functional dehydratase from the erythromycin eryAII module 4, via homologous recombination. Erythromycin polyketide synthetase should contain the sole dehydratase domain, thus generating a saturated chain at the C6-7 of erythromycin. We constructed replacement plasmids with PCR products, by using primers which had been derived from the sequences of avermectin aveAI and the erythromycin eryAII biosynthetic gene cluster. If the original dehydratase of Streptomyces avermitilis were exchanged with the corresponding erythromycin gene located on the replacement plasmid, it would be expected to result in the formation of precursors which contain alkene at C22-23, formed by the dehydratase of erythromycin module 4, and further processed by avermectin polyketide synthase. Consequently, the resulting recombinant strain JW3105, which harbors the dehydratase gene derived from erythromycin, was shown to produce only C22,23-unsaturated avermectin compounds. Our research indicates that the desired compound may be produced via polyketide gene replacement.     

Complex organization of the Streptomyces avermitilis genes encoding the avermectin polyketide synthase.

The avermectin (Av) polyketide synthase (PKS) and erythromycin (Er) PKS are encoded by modular repeats of DNA, but the genetic organization of the modules encoding Av PKS is more complex than Er PKS. Sequencing of several related DNA fragments from Streptomyces avermitilis that are part of the Av biosynthetic gene cluster, revealed that they encode parts of large multifunctional PKS proteins. The Av PKS proteins show strong similarity to each other, as well as similarity to Er PKS proteins [Donadio et al., Science 252 (1991) 675-679] and fatty acid synthases. Partial DNA sequencing of the 65-kb region containing all the related sequence elements in the avr genes provides evidence for twelve modular repeats encoding FAS-like domains. The genes encoding the Av PKS are organized as two sets of six modular repeats which are convergently transcribed.     

Genetic studies of avermectin biosynthesis in Streptomyces avermitilis

A genetic recombination study of an industrial strain of Streptomyces avermitilis which produces avermectin is described. A genetic map has been constructed by analysis of haploid recombinants and linkage relationships of 16 marker loci. Fifteen avermectin-nonproducing mutants, produced by mutagenesis, were classified into two phenotypically different groups, of which one produced avermectin aglycon and the other was able to convert avermectin aglycon to avermectins. Two different mutants were found to map closely to each other.     

Optimization of transformation procedures in avermectin high-producing Streptomyces avermitilis

The optimal pH conditions for efficient transformation of protoplasts and intact cells were established in avermectin high-producing mutants, ATCC31780 and L-9. Among all factors tested, protoplast buffer pH was elucidated as the most important factor influencing transformation efficiency. The optimal pH of the protoplast buffer for the regeneration of ATCC31780 was 6.5, and using this condition, 4.5 × 10⁶ transformants per g of pIJ702 were produced. At pH 6.3, the maximal number of L-9 transformants was 1.6 × 10⁵ per g of the same plasmid. However, the protoplasting process decreased avermectin productivity to half or one-sixth of ATCC31780 or L-9, respectively. To avoid the productivity loss, electroporation of intact cells without lysozyme treatment was developed for these mutant strains even though this method was approximately 100-fold less efficient. In this method, the initial pH of culture medium was elucidated as a critical factor and optimized for both transformation efficiency and avermectin productivity.     

Deletion analysis of the avermectin biosynthetic genes of Streptomyces avermitilis by gene cluster displacement.

Streptomyces avermitilis produces a group of glycosylated, methylated macrocyclic lactones, the avermectins, which have potent anthelmintic activity. A homologous recombination strategy termed gene cluster displacement was used to construct Neor deletion strains with defined endpoints and to clone the corresponding complementary DNA encoding functions for avermectin biosynthesis (avr). Thirty-five unique deletions of 0.5 to > 100 kb over a continuous 150-kb region were introduced into S. avermitilis. Analysis of the avermectin phenotypes of the deletion-containing strains defined the extent and ends of the 95-kb avr gene cluster, identified a regulatory region, and mapped several avr functions. A 60-kb region in the central portion determines the synthesis of the macrolide ring. A 13-kb region at one end of the cluster is responsible for synthesis and attachment of oleandrose disaccharide. A 10-kb region at the other end has functions for positive regulation and C-5 O methylation. Physical analysis of the deletions and of in vivo-cloned fragments refined a 130-kb physical map of the avr gene cluster region.     

Cloning and analysis of a DNA fragment stimulating avermectin production in various Streptomyces avermitilis strains

To isolate a gene for stimulating avermectin production, a genomic library of Streptomyces avermitilis ATCC 31267 was constructed in Streptomyces lividans TK21 as the host strain. An 8.0-kb DNA fragment that significantly stimulated actinorhodin and undecylprodigiosin production was isolated. When wild-type S. avermitilis was transformed with the cloned fragment, avermectin production increased approximately 3.5-fold. The introduction of this fragment into high-producer (ATCC 31780) and semi-industrial (L-9) strains also resulted in an increase of avermectin production by more than 2.0- and 1.4-fold, respectively. Subclones were studied to locate the minimal region involved in stimulation of pigmented-antibiotic and avermectin production. An analysis of the nucleotide sequence of the entire DNA fragment identified eight complete and one incomplete open reading frame. All but one of the deduced proteins exhibited strong homology (68 to 84% identity) to the hypothetical proteins of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). The orfX gene product showed no significant similarity to any other protein in the databases, and an analysis of its sequence suggested that it was a putative membrane protein. Although the nature of the stimulatory effect is still unclear, the disruption of orfX revealed that this gene was intrinsically involved in the stimulation of avermectin production in S. avermitilis.     

Targeted gene disruption of the avermectin B O-methyltransferase gene in Streptomyces avermitilis

The biological activity of avermectin B components is superior to that of avermectin A components, which are derived from avermectin B by avermectin B 5-O-methyltransferase. Gene disruption, targeting avermectin B 5-O-methyltransferase gene in Streptomyces avermitilis, was carried out to obtain a strain of avermectin B producer. Phenotype analysis of the mutant with the disrupted O-methyltransferase gene showed that only avermectin B components were produced with a significant increase in production     

Analysis of Streptomyces avermitilis genes required for avermectin biosynthesis utilizing a novel integration vector.

An integration vector for gene analysis in Streptomyces has been constructed. This vector replicates in Escherichia coli, and integrates into Streptomyces by homologous recombination between a cloned fragment and the genome. To overcome methylation-specific restriction barriers, an E. coli mutant triply defective in DNA methylation was constructed as a source for the integration plasmids. The frequency of integration of pVE616 derivatives into the Streptomyces avermitilis genome was proportional to the size of the cloned DNA. Derivatives of pVE616, containing fragments from pVE650, a plasmid with a 24-kb insert of S. avermitilis DNA, were used in complementation analyses of seven S. avermitilis mutants defective in glycosylation of avermectin (Av). Three complementation groups, located in a 7-kb region, were identified. Derivatives of pVE616, containing fragments from the 18-kb of DNA adjacent to the glycosylation region, were integrated into an Av producer. Av produced from the integrants was substantially reduced, indicating that the 18 kb also encodes gene products which are involved in Av biosynthesis.     

Two threonine residues required for role of AfsKav in controlling morphogenesis and avermectin production in Streptomyces avermitilis

AfsKav is a eukaryotic-type serine/threonine protein kinase, required for sporulation and avermectin production in Streptomyces avermitilis. In terms of their ability to complement SJW4001 (DeltaafsK-av), afsK-av mutants T165A and T168A were not functional, whereas mutants T165D and T168D retained their ability, indicating that Thr-165 and Thr-168 are the phosphorylation sites required for the role of AfsKav. Expression of the S-adenosylmethione synthetase gene promoted avermectin production in the wild-type S. avermitilis, yet not in the mutant harboring T168D or T165D, demonstrating that tandem phosphorylation on Thr-165 and Thr-168 in AfsKav is the mechanism modulating avermectin production in response to S-adenosylmethione accumulation in S. avermitilis.     

Cloning of the gene encoding avermectin B 5-O-methyltransferase in avermectin-producing Streptomyces avermitilis

Complementation of a mutant lacking avermectin B 5-O-methyltransferase (AveD) of Streptomyces avermitilis, which catalyses the methylation of the hydroxyl group at the C5 position of avermectin B compounds, revealed that the gene encoding AveD is in a 1.25-kb SalI–EcoNI fragment in the left region of the gene cluster for avermectin biosynthesis. The nucleotide sequence of this fragment predicted a 283-aa gene product homologous to several methyltransferases requiring S-adenosyl-l-methionine as a cofactor. After cloning of the aveD region from mutant not producing AveD, the complementation experiments were performed using a pair of hybrid fragments (AveD⁺/AveD⁻ and AveD⁻/AveD⁺). They suggest that the mutation(s) is in the N-terminus of AveD. SSCP analysis of amplified DNA of the aveD region derived from both wild type and mutant strains supports the results of the complementation experiments. Sequence analysis of the aveD region of the mutant strain revealed that a point mutation is within ORF, being Thr23→Ile substitution. This mutation causes the inactivation of O-methyltransferase activity of AveD.