A cos-mini-Mu vector for in vivo DNA cloning

Purification and characterization of Chromatium vinosum GroEL and GroES proteins overexpressed in Escherichia coli cells lacking the endogenous groESL operon

Using an Escherichia coli strain (RF101) in which the endogenous chromosomal groESL operon was removed, we overexpressed the GroEL and GroES chaperonins cloned from the photosynthetic bacterium Chromatium vinosum. The identities of these proteins were confirmed by immunological and N-terminal sequence analyses. The native molecular masses of GroEL and GroES, as determined by size-exclusion chromatography, were 830 and 74 kDa, respectively. This suggests a tetradecameric structure for GroEL and a heptameric structure for GroES. C. vinosum GroEL catalyzed a K+-stimulated ATP hydrolysis with a specific activity at 25 degreesC of 50.2 +/- 3.8 nmol Pi released min-1 mg protein-1. GroEL ATPase was inhibited by GroES, reaching about 50% inhibition at a ratio GroES-7mer/GroEL-14mer of 1 in the presence of 10 mM KCl. The ATPase Vmax increased almost fivefold in the 25 to 65 degreesC temperature range; higher temperatures led to a rapid inactivation of this activity. The chaperone activity of the C. vinosum GroEL/GroES system was characterized by its effect on the refolding of guanidinium chloride-unfolded rhodanese. In the presence of ATP and GroES, C. vinosum GroEL assisted rhodanese refolding. The heterologous combination C. vinosum GroEL/E. coli GroES or E. coli GroEL/C. vinosum GroES was as effective as the homologous complexes. In summary, this strategy allowed the purification at high yields of fully functional, homogenous C. vinosum GroEL and GroES chaperonins from E. coli.

Application of the mini-mu phage for the isolation of lac transcriptional fusions in Bacillus subtilis genes

A cassette containing a selectable cat gene and the lacZ gene without its own promoter has been incorporated into the mini-Mu bacteriophage genome. This mini-Mu derivative, referred to as mMu-Bs, can be used in Escherichia coli for the generation of lacZ transcriptional fusions to Bacillus subtilis genes cloned into plasmids. The resultant fusions can be analyzed in B. subtilis either as multicopy plasmids or as a single copy integrated via a Campbell-like recombination into the wild-type locus of the cloned fragment.

Genome mapping and protein coding region identification using bacteriophage Mu

Transposons such as bacteriophage Mu provide a means to clone bacterial genes as alternatives to using standard recombinant DNA technologies. A DNA-cloning and gene-expressing system has been developed with a bacteriophage Mu (DNA capacity of 38 kb) vector that combines the Mu transposition capabilities and a specialized promoter from bacteriophage T7. Genes cloned with this vector can be identified by transcription in vivo with T7 RNA polymerase and subsequent host translation. This system, illustrated with the characterization of a 35-kb region of the Escherichia coli K-12 chromosome, is applicable to other Enterobacteriaceae, which are hosts for Mu phage, and is potentially applicable to other bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which have Mu-like phage, and to other organisms for which high-frequency transposons are available.

Expression of cloned genes by in vivo insertion of tac promoter using a mini-Mu bacteriophage

The strong trp-lac(tac) promoter has been incorporated into the mini-Mu bacteriophage genome to form a mini-Mu-tac (mMu-tac) expression transposon. This mMu-tac element can transpose efficiently in Escherichia coli cells when derepressed and occasionally insert into a recombinant plasmid. When mMu-tac integration occurs upstream of a cloned gene in the orientation of its transcription, the tac promoter can direct the expression of the gene insert. mMu-tac contains translation stop codons downstream of the tac promoter. Thus, mMu-tac should be useful to express only those genes containing their own translational information. We report here the successful expression in E. coli of several prokaryotic genes using the transposon expression system.