Coexpression of TorD enhances the transport of GFP via the TAT pathway

Twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway is capable of secreting fully folded proteins into the periplasm of Gram-negative bacteria and may thus be an ideal system for the expression of active cofactor-containing proteins. However, the applications of Tat system for such purpose have been plagued by low translocation efficiencies. In this study, we demonstrate that the coexpression of a soluble chaperone, TorD, in conjunction with the TorA signal peptide, the translocation efficiency of GFP can be enhanced by more than three-fold. The enhancement in translocation efficiency is believed to be a result of reduced proteolysis mediated by the binding of TorD toward the TorA signal peptide. We believe this approach can be further exploited for the expression and secretion of other heterologous proteins as well as traditional Tat substrate proteins.