Bacillus subtilis as cell factory for pharmaceutical proteins: a biotechnological approach to optimize the host organism

Expressing antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin-BF in Bacillus subtilis using SUMO technology

Small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) technology has been widely used in Escherichia coli expression systems to produce antimicrobial peptides. However, E. coli is a pathogenic bacterium that produces endotoxins and can secrete proteins into the periplasm, forming inclusion bodies. In our work, cathelicidin-BF (CBF), an antimicrobial peptide purified from Bungarus fasciatus venom, was produced in a Bacillus subtilis expression system using SUMO technology. The chimeric genes his-SUMO-CBF and his-SUMO protease 1 were ligated into vector pHT43 and expressed in B. subtilis WB800N. Approximately 22 mg of recombinant fusion protein SUMO-CBF and 1 mg of SUMO protease 1 were purified per liter of culture supernatant. Purified SUMO protease 1 was highly active and cleaved his-SUMO-CBF with an enzyme-to-substrate ratio of 1:40. Following cleavage, recombinant CBF was further purified by affinity and cation exchange chromatography. Peptide yields of ~3 mg/l endotoxin-free CBF were achieved, and the peptide demonstrated antimicrobial activity. This is the first report of the production of an endotoxin-free antimicrobial peptide, CBF, by recombinant DNA technology, as well as the first time purified SUMO protease 1 with high activity has been produced from B. subtilis. This work has expanded the application of SUMO fusion technology and may represent a safe and efficient way to generate peptides and proteins in B. subtilis.

The pCri System: a vector collection for recombinant protein expression and purification

A major bottleneck in structural, biochemical and biophysical studies of proteins is the need for large amounts of pure homogenous material, which is generally obtained by recombinant overexpression. Here we introduce a vector collection, the pCri System, for cytoplasmic and periplasmic/extracellular expression of heterologous proteins that allows the simultaneous assessment of prokaryotic and eukaryotic host cells (Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Pichia pastoris). By using a single polymerase chain reaction product, genes of interest can be directionally cloned in all vectors within four different rare restriction sites at the 5'end and multiple cloning sites at the 3'end. In this way, a number of different fusion tags but also signal peptides can be incorporated at the N- and C-terminus of proteins, facilitating their expression, solubility and subsequent detection and purification. Fusion tags can be efficiently removed by treatment with site-specific peptidases, such as tobacco etch virus proteinase, thrombin, or sentrin specific peptidase 1, which leave only a few extra residues at the N-terminus of the protein. The combination of different expression systems in concert with the cloning approach in vectors that can fuse various tags makes the pCri System a valuable tool for high throughput studies.

Identification of ypqP as a New Bacillus subtilis biofilm determinant that mediates the protection of Staphylococcus aureus against antimicrobial agents in mixed-species communities

In most habitats, microbial life is organized in biofilms, three-dimensional edifices sustained by extracellular polymeric substances that enable bacteria to resist harsh and changing environments. Under multispecies conditions, bacteria can benefit from the polymers produced by other species ("public goods"), thus improving their survival under toxic conditions. A recent study showed that a Bacillus subtilis hospital isolate (NDmed) was able to protect Staphylococcus aureus from biocide action in multispecies biofilms. In this work, we identified ypqP, a gene whose product is required in NDmed for thick-biofilm formation on submerged surfaces and for resistance to two biocides widely used in hospitals. NDmed and S. aureus formed mixed biofilms, and both their spatial arrangement and pathogen protection were mediated by YpqP. Functional ypqP is present in other natural B. subtilis biofilm-forming isolates. However, the gene is disrupted by the SPβ prophage in the weak submerged-biofilm-forming strains NCIB3610 and 168, which are both less resistant than NDmed to the biocides tested. Furthermore, in a 168 laboratory strain cured of the SPβ prophage, the reestablishment of a functional ypqP gene led to increased thickness and resistance to biocides of the associated biofilms. We therefore propose that YpqP is a new and important determinant of B. subtilis surface biofilm architecture, protection against exposure to toxic compounds, and social behavior in bacterial communities.

Cell physiology of the biotechnological relevant bacterium Bacillus pumilus-an omics-based approach

Members of the species Bacillus pumilus get more and more in focus of the biotechnological industry as potential new production strains. Based on exoproteome analysis, B. pumilus strain Jo2, possessing a high secretion capability, was chosen for an omics-based investigation. The proteome and metabolome of B. pumilus cells growing either in minimal or complex medium was analyzed. In total, 1542 proteins were identified in growing B. pumilus cells, among them 1182 cytosolic proteins, 297 membrane and lipoproteins and 63 secreted proteins. This accounts for about 43% of the 3616 proteins encoded in the B. pumilus Jo2 genome sequence. By using GC-MS, IP-LC/MS and H NMR methods numerous metabolites were analyzed and assigned to reconstructed metabolic pathways. In the genome sequence a functional secretion system including the components of the Sec- and Tat-secretion machinery was found. Analysis of the exoproteome revealed secretion of about 70 proteins with predicted secretion signals. In addition, selected production-relevant genome features such as restriction modification systems and NRPS clusters of B. pumilus Jo2 are discussed.

Bacillus subtilis attachment to Aspergillus niger hyphae results in mutually altered metabolism

Interaction between microbes affects the growth, metabolism and differentiation of members of the microbial community. While direct and indirect competition, like antagonism and nutrient consumption have a negative effect on the interacting members of the population, microbes have also evolved in nature not only to fight, but in some cases to adapt to or support each other, while increasing the fitness of the community. The presence of bacteria and fungi in soil results in various interactions including mutualism. Bacilli attach to the plant root and form complex communities in the rhizosphere. Bacillus subtilis, when grown in the presence of Aspergillus niger, interacts similarly with the fungus, by attaching and growing on the hyphae. Based on data obtained in a dual transcriptome experiment, we suggest that both fungi and bacteria alter their metabolism during this interaction. Interestingly, the transcription of genes related to the antifungal and putative antibacterial defence mechanism of B. subtilis and A. niger, respectively, are decreased upon attachment of bacteria to the mycelia. Analysis of the culture supernatant suggests that surfactin production by B. subtilis was reduced when the bacterium was co-cultivated with the fungus. Our experiments provide new insights into the interaction between a bacterium and a fungus.

The naturally competent strain Streptococcus thermophilus LMD-9 as a new tool to anchor heterologous proteins on the cell surface

BACKGROUND

From fundamental studies to industrial processes, synthesis of heterologous protein by micro-organisms is widely employed. The secretion of soluble heterologous proteins in the extracellular medium facilitates their recovery, while their attachment to the cell surface permits the use of the recombinant host cells as protein or peptide supports. One of the key points to carry out heterologous expression is to choose the appropriate host. We propose to enlarge the panel of heterologous secretion hosts by using Streptococcus thermophilus LMD-9. This lactic acid bacterium has a generally recognised as safe status, is widely used in the manufacture of yogurts, fermented milks and cheeses, and is easy to transform by natural competence. This study demonstrates the feasibility of secretion of a heterologous protein anchored to the cell surface by S. thermophilus. For this, we used the cell envelope proteinase (CEP) PrtH of Lactobacillus helveticus CNRZ32 CIRM-BIA 103.

RESULTS

Using S. thermophilus LMD-9 as the background host, three recombinant strains were constructed: i) a negative control corresponding to S. thermophilus PrtS- mutant where the prtS gene encoding its CEP was partially deleted; ii) a PrtH+ mutant expressing the L. helveticus PrtH pro-protein with its own motif (S-layer type) of cell-wall attachment and iii) a PrtH+WANS mutant expressing PrtH pro-protein with the LPXTG anchoring motif from PrtS. The PrtH+ and PrtH+WANS genes expression levels were measured by RT-qPCR in the corresponding mutants and compared to that of prtS gene in the strain LMD-9. The expression levels of both fused prtH CEPs genes, regardless of the anchoring motif, reached up-to more than 76% of the wild-type prtS expression level. CEPs were sought and identified on the cell surface of LMD-9 wild-type strain, PrtH+ and PrtH+WANS mutants using shaving technique followed by peptide identification with tandem mass spectrometry, demonstrating that the heterologous secretion and anchoring of a protein of more than 200 kDa was efficient. The anchoring to the cell-wall seems to be more efficient when the LPXTG motif of PrtS was used instead of the S-layer motif of PrtH.

CONCLUSIONS

We demonstrated S. thermophilus LMD-9 could heterologously secrete a high molecular weight protein and probably covalently anchor it to the cell-wall.

A Proposal for Six Sigma Integration for Large-Scale Production of Penicillin G and Subsequent Conversion to 6-APA

Six Sigma methodology has been successfully applied to daily operations by several leading global private firms including GE and Motorola, to leverage their net profits. Comparatively, limited studies have been conducted to find out whether this highly successful methodology can be applied to research and development (R&D). In the current study, we have reviewed and proposed a process for a probable integration of Six Sigma methodology to large-scale production of Penicillin G and its subsequent conversion to 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA). It is anticipated that the important aspects of quality control and quality assurance will highly benefit from the integration of Six Sigma methodology in mass production of Penicillin G and/or its conversion to 6-APA.

High-level secretory production of recombinant single-chain variable fragment (scFv) in Corynebacterium glutamicum

We describe the development of a new secretory production system for the enhanced production of a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) against the anthrax toxin in Corynebacterium glutamicum. For efficient secretory production of the antibody fragment, the following components were examined: (1) signal peptides, (2) codon usage of antibody fragment, (3) promoters, (4) 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) sequence, and (5) transcriptional terminator. Among all the systems examined, the use of a codon-optimized gene sequence, a Sec-dependent PorB signal peptide, and a fully synthetic H36 promoter, allowed the highest production of antibody fragments in a culture medium. For large-scale production, fed-batch cultivations were also conducted in a 5-L lab-scale bioreactor. When cells were cultivated in semi-defined media, cells could grow up to an OD600 of 179 for 32 h and an antibody fragment concentration as high as 68 mg/L could be obtained in a culture medium with high purity. From the culture medium, the secreted antibody was successfully purified using a simple purification procedure, with correct binding activity confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a fed-batch cultivation for antibody fragment production in C. glutamicum.

Production of cellulase-free xylanase by the recombinant Bacillus subtilis and its applicability in paper pulp bleaching

A metagenomic xylanase gene (Mxyl) was successfully cloned into shuttle vector pWH1520 and expressed in Bacillus subtilis extracellularly. On induction with xylose, recombinant xylanase secretion commenced after 6 h. Identifying critical variables for recombinant xylanase production by one-variable-at-time approach followed by optimization of the selected variables (xylose, inoculum density, incubation density) by response surface methodology (RSM) led to three-fold enhancement in extracellular xylanase production (119 U mL(-1) ). When the pulp was treated with recombinant xylanase at 80°C and pH 9.0, kappa number of the pulp was reduced with concomitant increase in brightness and 24% reduction in chlorine consumption. This is the first report on the expression of metagenomic xylanase gene in Bacillus subtilis extracellularly and its utility in developing an environment-friendly pulp bleaching process.

Production, characterization, and immunogenicity of a secreted form of Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 4 produced in Bacillus subtilis

Plasmodium falciparum is the causative agent of the most serious form of malaria. Although a combination of control measures has significantly limited malaria morbidity and mortality in the last few years, it is generally agreed that sustained control or even eradication will require additional tools including an effective malaria vaccine. Merozoite surface protein 4, MSP4, which is present during the asexual stage of P. falciparum, is a recognized target that would be useful in a subunit vaccine against blood stages of malaria. Falciparum malaria is most prevalent in developing countries, and this in turn leads to a requirement for safe, low-cost vaccines. We have attempted to utilize the nonpathogenic, gram-positive organism Bacillus subtilis to produce PfMSP4. PfMSP4 was secreted into the culture medium at a yield of 4.5 mg/L. Characterization studies including SDS-PAGE, mass spectrometry, and N-terminal sequencing indicated that the B. subtilis expression system secreted a full length PfMSP4 protein compared to a truncated version in Escherichia coli. Equivalent amounts of purified B. subtilis and E. coli-derived PfMSP4 were used for immunization studies, resulting in statistically significant higher mean titer values for the B. subtilis-derived immunogen. The mouse antibodies raised against B. subtilis produced PfMSP4 that were reactive to parasite proteins as evidenced by immunoblotting on parasite lysate and indirect immunofluorescence assays of fixed parasites. The B. subtilis expression system, in contrast to E. coli, expresses higher amounts of full length PfMSP4 products, decreased levels of aggregates, and allows the development of simplified downstream processing procedures.

High-level extracellular production of alkaline polygalacturonate lyase in Bacillus subtilis with optimized regulatory elements

The present work aims to construct a robust recombinant Bacillus subtilis to achieve secretory production of alkaline polygalacturonate lyase (PGL). First, 6 signal peptides (amyX, bpr, vpr, yvgO, wapA and nprE) were screened with a semi-rational approach and comparatively investigated their effects on the production of PGL. The signal peptide bpr directed efficient PGL secretory expression and increased PGL titer to 313.7 U mL(-1). By optimizing and applying strong promoter P43 and Shine-Dalgarno sequence, higher titer of 446.3 U mL(-1) PGL was achieved. Finally, the capacity of the recombinant B. subtilis WB43CB was evaluated with a fed-batch strategy in 3 L fermentor. The PGL titer reached 632.6 U mL(-1) with a productivity of 17.6 U mL(-1) h(-1), which was the highest secretory production of PGL by the B. subtilis system. The recombinant B. subtilis strain WB43CB constructed in the present work has great potential in production of alkaline PGL.

Overproduction of a thermostable 4-α-glucanotransferase by codon optimization at N-terminus region

BACKGROUND

4-α-Glucanotransferases are useful enzymes to modify starch owing to their transglycosylation activity. In this study, codon optimizations were conducted to overproduce a thermostable 4-α-glucanotransferase from Thermus thermophilus (TTαGT).

RESULTS

Two variants, termed TTαGT-P4CCG and TTαGT-mut6, were constructed, which have the optimized codon at the first rare codon and optimized codons at all six chosen rare codons at the N-terminus of TTαGT, respectively. In the Escherichia coli system, the expression of both optimized genes was enhanced by about 100-fold relative to that of the original gene, whereas all six mutated codons contributed to the overall enhancement of TTαGT production in Bacillus subtilis. On the basis of the αGTase activity of the crude cell extracts, relative activities of 1:2.9:5.8 were determined for TTαGT, TTαGT-P4CCG and TTαGT-mut6, respectively, in B. subtilis. In addition, the activity of TTαGT-mut6 from B. subtilis grown without antibiotics was as much as that with the antibiotics. Finally, after heat treatment, the specific activity of TTαGT-mut6 from B. subtilis was 1.5-fold greater than that from E. coli.

CONCLUSION

The codon-optimized TTαGT that was produced in a GRAS microorganism, B. subtilis, without the selection antibiotics is potentially useful in the food industry as a food-grade enzyme.

Increasing protein production by directed vector backbone evolution

Recombinant protein production in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms was a key enabling technology for the rapid development of industrial and molecular biotechnology. However, despite all progress the improvement of protein production is an ongoing challenge and of high importance for cost-effective enzyme production. With the epMEGAWHOP mutagenesis protocol for vector backbone optimization we report a novel directed evolution based approach to increase protein production levels by randomly introducing mutations in the vector backbone. In the current study we validate the epMEGAWHOP mutagenesis protocol for three different expression systems. The latter demonstrated the general applicability of the epMEGAWHOP method. Cellulase and lipase production was doubled in one round of directed evolution by random mutagenesis of pET28a(+) and pET22b(+) vector backbones. Protease production using the vector pHY300PLK was increased ~4-times with an average of ~1.25 mutations per kb vector backbone. The epMEGAWHOP does not require any rational understanding of the expression machinery and can generally be applied to enzymes, expression vectors and related hosts. epMEGAWHOP is therefore from our point of view a robust, rapid and straight forward alternative for increasing protein production in general and for biotechnological applications.

Genome Sequence of Bacillus subtilis SPZ1, an Evolved Strain for Higher Uptake Rate of Tributyrin

The lipase-producing strain Bacillus subtilis SPZ1 is isolated from the medium by tributyrin as the sole carbon source. Here, we present a 4.13-Mb assembly of its genome sequence, which may provide various kinds of useful information related to Bacillus spp., such as mechanisms and control of the substrate uptake and protein secretion pathways.

Subtilomycin: a new lantibiotic from Bacillus subtilis strain MMA7 isolated from the marine sponge Haliclona simulans

Bacteriocins are attracting increased attention as an alternative to classic antibiotics in the fight against infectious disease and multidrug resistant pathogens. Bacillus subtilis strain MMA7 isolated from the marine sponge Haliclona simulans displays a broad spectrum antimicrobial activity, which includes Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens, as well as several pathogenic Candida species. This activity is in part associated with a newly identified lantibiotic, herein named as subtilomycin. The proposed biosynthetic cluster is composed of six genes, including protein-coding genes for LanB-like dehydratase and LanC-like cyclase modification enzymes, characteristic of the class I lantibiotics. The subtilomycin biosynthetic cluster in B. subtilis strain MMA7 is found in place of the sporulation killing factor (skf) operon, reported in many B. subtilis isolates and involved in a bacterial cannibalistic behaviour intended to delay sporulation. The presence of the subtilomycin biosynthetic cluster appears to be widespread amongst B. subtilis strains isolated from different shallow and deep water marine sponges. Subtilomycin possesses several desirable industrial and pharmaceutical physicochemical properties, including activity over a wide pH range, thermal resistance and water solubility. Additionally, the production of the lantibiotic subtilomycin could be a desirable property should B. subtilis strain MMA7 be employed as a probiotic in aquaculture applications.

Biotechnological advances on penicillin G acylase: pharmaceutical implications, unique expression mechanism and production strategies

In light of unrestricted use of first-generation penicillins, these antibiotics are now superseded by their semisynthetic counterparts for augmented antibiosis. Traditional penicillin chemistry involves the use of hazardous chemicals and harsh reaction conditions for the production of semisynthetic derivatives and, therefore, is being displaced by the biosynthetic platform using enzymatic transformations. Penicillin G acylase (PGA) is one of the most relevant and widely used biocatalysts for the industrial production of β-lactam semisynthetic antibiotics. Accordingly, considerable genetic and biochemical engineering strategies have been devoted towards PGA applications. This article provides a state-of-the-art review in recent biotechnological advances associated with PGA, particularly in the production technologies with an emphasis on using the Escherichia coli expression platform.

Stable expression plasmids for Streptomyces based on a toxin-antitoxin system

Background

Bacteria included in the genus Streptomyces exhibit several attractive characteristics that make them adequate hosts for the heterologous expression of proteins. One of them is that some of its species have a high secretion capacity and hence the protein of interest could be released to the culture supernatant, facilitating downstream processing. To date, all the expression vectors described for these bacteria contain antibiotic resistance genes as selection markers. However, the use of antibiotics to produce proteins at industrial level is currently becoming more restricted owing to the possibility of contamination of the final product. In this report, we describe the use of the S. lividans yefM/yoeBsl toxin-antitoxin system to develop a stable plasmid expression system.

Results

In order to use the yefM/yoeBsl system to stabilize expression plasmids in Streptomyces, a S. lividans mutant strain that contained only the toxin gene (yoeBsl) in its genome and the antitoxin gene (yefMsl) located in a temperature-sensitive plasmid was constructed and used as host. This strain was transformed with an expression plasmid harbouring both the antitoxin gene and the gene encoding the protein of interest. Thus, after elimination of the temperature-sensitive plasmid, only cells with the expression plasmid were able to survive. On using this system, two proteins - an α-amylase from S. griseus and a xylanase from S. halstedii - were overproduced without the addition of antibiotic to the culture medium. The production of both proteins was high, even after long incubations (8 days), and after serial subcultures, confirming the stability of the plasmids without antibiotic selection.

Conclusions

This is the first report that describes the use of a toxin-antitoxin system to maintain high -copy plasmids in Streptomyces. This finding could be a valuable tool for using Streptomyces as a host to produce proteins at the industrial and pharmaceutical levels without the use of antibiotics in the production step.

How to achieve high-level expression of microbial enzymes: strategies and perspectives

Microbial enzymes have been used in a large number of fields, such as chemical, agricultural and biopharmaceutical industries. The enzyme production rate and yield are the main factors to consider when choosing the appropriate expression system for the production of recombinant proteins. Recombinant enzymes have been expressed in bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli, Bacillus and lactic acid bacteria), filamentous fungi (e.g., Aspergillus) and yeasts (e.g., Pichia pastoris). The favorable and very advantageous characteristics of these species have resulted in an increasing number of biotechnological applications. Bacterial hosts (e.g., E. coli) can be used to quickly and easily overexpress recombinant enzymes; however, bacterial systems cannot express very large proteins and proteins that require post-translational modifications. The main bacterial expression hosts, with the exception of lactic acid bacteria and filamentous fungi, can produce several toxins which are not compatible with the expression of recombinant enzymes in food and drugs. However, due to the multiplicity of the physiological impacts arising from high-level expression of genes encoding the enzymes and expression hosts, the goal of overproduction can hardly be achieved, and therefore, the yield of recombinant enzymes is limited. In this review, the recent strategies used for the high-level expression of microbial enzymes in the hosts mentioned above are summarized and the prospects are also discussed. We hope this review will contribute to the development of the enzyme-related research field.

Authentic human basic fibroblast growth factor produced by secretion in Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis is generally accepted as an inborn host candidate employed for secretory production of heterologous proteins. However, this ideal host system has never been employed for commercial production of medically useful proteins. In this communication, we report for the first time the employment of an engineered B. subtilis system, in conjunction with a facile cell-wall destabilization protocol, to successfully obtain an alluring yield of 40 mg l(-1) of secreted human basic fibroblast growth factor (hbFGF) in the culture supernatant. The product was not only shown to exhibit potent bioactivity but also revealed to possess a protein sequence identical to that of mature native hbFGF (Mat-hbFGF). Our findings may pave way for the development of a cost-effective process for producing Mat-hbFGF, which is currently sold at an unusually expensive price of over US $1 million g(-1), for medical and skin care applications.

Secretory production of an FAD cofactor-containing cytosolic enzyme (sorbitol-xylitol oxidase from Streptomyces coelicolor) using the twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway of Corynebacterium glutamicum

Carbohydrate oxidases are biotechnologically interesting enzymes that require a tightly or covalently bound cofactor for activity. Using the industrial workhorse Corynebacterium glutamicum as the expression host, successful secretion of a normally cytosolic FAD cofactor-containing sorbitol–xylitol oxidase from Streptomyces coelicolor was achieved by using the twin-arginine translocation (Tat) protein export machinery for protein translocation across the cytoplasmic membrane. Our results demonstrate for the first time that, also for cofactor-containing proteins, a secretory production strategy is a feasible and promising alternative to conventional intracellular expression strategies.

The LIKE system, a novel protein expression toolbox for Bacillus subtilis based on the liaI promoter

Background

Bacillus subtilis is a very important Gram-positive model organism of high biotechnological relevance, which is widely used as a host for the production of both secreted and cytoplasmic proteins. We developed a novel and efficient expression system, based on the liaI promoter (P_liaI) from B. subtilis, which is under control of the LiaRS antibiotic-inducible two-component system. In the absence of a stimulus, this promoter is kept tightly inactive. Upon induction by cell wall antibiotics, it shows an over 100-fold increase in activity within 10 min.

Results

Based on these traits of P_liaI, we developed a novel LiaRS-controlled gene expression system for B. subtilis (the “LIKE" system). Two expression vectors, the integrative pLIKE-int and the replicative pLIKE-rep, were constructed. To enhance the performance of the P_liaI-derived system, site-directed mutagenesis was employed to optimize the ribosome binding site and alter its spacing to the initiation codon used for the translational fusion. The impact of these genetic modifications on protein production yield was measured using GFP as a model protein. Moreover, a number of tailored B. subtilis expression strains containing different markerless chromosomal deletions of the liaIH region were constructed to circumvent undesired protein production, enhance the positive autoregulation of the LiaRS system and thereby increase target gene expression strength from the P_liaI promoter.

Conclusions

The LIKE protein expression system is a novel protein expression system, which offers a number of advantages over existing systems. Its major advantages are (i) a tightly switched-off promoter during exponential growth in the absence of a stimulus, (ii) a concentration-dependent activation of P_liaI in the presence of suitable inducers, (iii) a very fast but transient response with a very high dynamic range of over 100-fold (up to 1,000-fold) induction, (iv) a choice from a range of well-defined, commercially available, and affordable inducers and (v) the convenient conversion of LIKE-derived inducible expression strains into strong constitutive protein production factories.

Directed evolution: selection of the host organism

Directed evolution has become a well-established tool for improving proteins and biological systems. A critical aspect of directed evolution is the selection of a suitable host organism for achieving functional expression of the target gene. To date, most directed evolution studies have used either Escherichia coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a host; however, other bacterial and yeast species, as well as mammalian and insect cell lines, have also been successfully used. Recent advances in synthetic biology and genomics have opened the possibility of expanding the use of directed evolution to new host organisms such as microalgae. This review focuses on the different host organisms used in directed evolution and highlights some of the recent directed evolution strategies used in these organisms.

Unconventional microbial systems for the cost-efficient production of high-quality protein therapeutics

Both conventional and innovative biomedical approaches require cost-effective protein drugs with high therapeutic potency, improved bioavailability, biocompatibility, stability and pharmacokinetics. The growing longevity of the human population, the increasing incidence and prevalence of age-related diseases and the better comprehension of genetic-linked disorders prompt to develop natural and engineered drugs addressed to fulfill emerging therapeutic demands. Conventional microbial systems have been for long time exploited to produce biotherapeutics, competing with animal cells due to easier operation and lower process costs. However, both biological platforms exhibit important drawbacks (mainly associated to intracellular retention of the product, lack of post-translational modifications and conformational stresses), that cannot be overcome through further strain optimization merely due to physiological constraints. The metabolic diversity among microorganisms offers a spectrum of unconventional hosts, that, being able to bypass some of these weaknesses, are under progressive incorporation into production pipelines. In this review we describe the main biological traits and potentials of emerging bacterial, yeast, fungal and microalgae systems, by comparing selected leading species with well established conventional organisms with a long run in protein drug production.

Comparative transcriptional analysis of Bacillus subtilis cells overproducing either secreted proteins, lipoproteins or membrane proteins

Background

Bacillus subtilis is a favorable host for the production of industrially relevant proteins because of its capacity of secreting proteins into the medium to high levels, its GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status, its genetic accessibility and its capacity to grow in large fermentations. However, production of heterologous proteins still faces limitations.

Results

This study aimed at the identification of bottlenecks in secretory protein production by analyzing the response of B. subtilis at the transcriptome level to overproduction of eight secretory proteins of endogenous and heterologous origin and with different subcellular or extracellular destination: secreted proteins (NprE and XynA of B. subtilis, Usp45 of Lactococcus lactis, TEM-1 β-lactamase of Escherichia coli), membrane proteins (LmrA of L. lactis and XylP of Lactobacillus pentosus) and lipoproteins (MntA and YcdH of B. subtilis). Responses specific for proteins with a common localization as well as more general stress responses were observed. The latter include upregulation of genes encoding intracellular stress proteins (groES/EL, CtsR regulated genes). Specific responses include upregulation of the liaIHGFSR operon under Usp45 and TEM-1 β-lactamase overproduction; cssRS, htrA and htrB under all secreted proteins overproduction; sigW and SigW-regulated genes mainly under membrane proteins overproduction; and ykrL (encoding an HtpX homologue) specifically under membrane proteins overproduction.

Conclusions

The results give better insights into B. subtilis responses to protein overproduction stress and provide potential targets for genetic engineering in order to further improve B. subtilis as a protein production host.

An efficient transformation method for Bacillus subtilis DB104

Bacillus subtilis strains are used for extracellular expression of enzymes (i.e., proteases, lipases, and cellulases) which are often engineered by directed evolution for industrial applications. B. subtilis DB104 represents an attractive directed evolution host since it has a low proteolytic activity and efficient secretion. B. subtilis DB104 is hampered like many other Bacillus strains by insufficient transformation efficiencies (≤10(3) transformants/μg DNA). After investigating five physical and chemical transformation protocols, a novel natural competent transformation protocol was established for B. subtilis DB104 by optimizing growth conditions and histidine concentration during competence development, implementing an additional incubation step in the competence development phase and a recovery step during the transformation procedure. In addition, the influence of the amount and size of the transformed plasmid DNA on transformation efficiency was investigated. The natural competence protocol is "easy" in handling and allows for the first time to generate large libraries (1.5 × 10(5) transformants/μg plasmid DNA) in B. subtilis DB104 without requiring microgram amounts of DNA.

Extracellular production of cycloisomaltooligosaccharide glucanotransferase and cyclodextran by a protease-deficient Bacillus subtilis host-vector system

A cycloisomaltooligosaccharide (CI; cyclodextran) production system was developed using a Bacillus subtilis expression system for the cycloisomaltooligosaccharide glucanotransferase (CITase) gene. The CITase gene of Bacillus circulans T-3040, along with the α-amylase promoter (PamyQ) and amyQ signal sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, was cloned into the Bacillus expression vector pUB110 and subsequently expressed in B. subtilis strain 168 and its alkaline (aprE) and neutral (nprE) protease-deficient strains. The recombinant CITase produced by the protease-deficient strains reached 1 U/mL in the culture supernatant within 48 h of cultivation, which was approximately 7.5 times more than that produced by the industrial CITase-producing strain B. circulans G22-10 derived from B. circulans T-3040. When aprE- and nprE-deficient B. subtilis 168 harboring the CITase gene was cultured with 10% dextran 40 for 48 h, 17% of the dextran in the culture was converted to CIs (CI-7 to CI-12), which was approximately three times more than that converted by B. circulans G22-10 under the same dextran concentration. The B. subtilis host-vector system enabled us to produce CIs by direct fermentation of dextran along with high CITase production, which was not possible in B. circulans G22-10 due to growth inhibition by dextran at high concentrations and limited production of CITase.

Development of a strong intracellular expression system for Bacillus subtilis by optimizing promoter elements

Transcription efficiency of inducible promoters remains a bottleneck in recombinant protein production in Bacillus subtilis cells. Here, we present experimental data how to generate strong IPTG-inducible promoters by optimization of nucleotides at the conserved regions of the groESL promoter including the UP element, the -35, -15, -10 and the +1 region. Combination of these changes into one promoter enhanced the amount of recombinant proteins accumulating intracellularly up to about 30% of the total cellular protein.

Diversity and bioactive potential of endospore-forming bacteria cultured from the marine sponge Haliclona simulans

AIMS

Despite the frequent isolation of endospore-formers from marine sponges, little is known about the diversity and characterization of individual isolates. The main aims of this study were to isolate and characterize the spore-forming bacteria from the marine sponge Haliclona simulans and to examine their potential as a source for bioactive compounds.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A bank of presumptive aerobic spore-forming bacteria was isolated from the marine sponge H. simulans. These represented c. 1% of the total culturable bacterial population. A subgroup of thirty isolates was characterized using morphological, phenotypical and phylogenetic analysis. A large diversity of endospore-forming bacteria was present, with the thirty isolates being distributed through a variety of Bacillus and Paenibacillus species. These included ubiquitous species, such as B. subtilis, B. pumilus, B. licheniformis and B. cereus group, as well as species that are typically associated with marine habitats, such as B. aquimaris, B. algicola and B. hwajinpoensis. Two strains carried the aiiA gene that encodes a lactonase known to be able to disrupt quorum-sensing mechanisms, and various isolates demonstrated protease activity and antimicrobial activity against different pathogenic indicator strains, including Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus and Listeria monocytogenes.

CONCLUSIONS

The marine sponge H. simulans harbours a diverse collection of endospore-forming bacteria, which produce proteases and antibiotics. This diversity appears to be overlooked by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods that do not specifically target sporeformers.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY

Marine sponges are an as yet largely untapped and poorly understood source of endospore-forming bacterial diversity with potential biotechnological, biopharmaceutical and probiotic applications. These results also indicate the importance of combining different methodologies for the comprehensive characterization of complex microbial populations such as those found in marine sponges.