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Ruegg TL, Pereira JH, Chen JC, DeGiovanni A, Novichkov P, Mutalik VK, Tomaleri GP, Singer SW, Hillson NJ, Simmons BA, Adams PD, Thelen MP. Jungle Express is a versatile repressor system for tight transcriptional control. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3617. [PMID: 30190458 PMCID: PMC6127294 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05857-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Tightly regulated promoters are essential for numerous biological applications, where strong inducibility, portability, and scalability are desirable. Current systems are often incompatible with large-scale fermentations due to high inducer costs and strict media requirements. Here, we describe the bottom-up engineering of 'Jungle Express', an expression system that enables efficient gene regulation in diverse proteobacteria. This system is guided by EilR, a multidrug-binding repressor with high affinity to its optimized operator and cationic dyes that act as powerful inducers at negligible costs. In E. coli, the engineered promoters exhibit minimal basal transcription and are inducible over four orders of magnitude by 1 µM crystal violet, reaching expression levels exceeding those of the strongest current bacterial systems. Further, we provide molecular insights into specific interactions of EilR with its operator and with two inducers. The versatility of Jungle Express opens the way for tightly controlled and efficient gene expression that is not restricted to host organism, substrate, or scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas L Ruegg
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.,Institute of Botany, University of Basel, 4001, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Jose H Pereira
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.,Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Joseph C Chen
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.,Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, 94132, USA
| | - Andy DeGiovanni
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.,Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Pavel Novichkov
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Vivek K Mutalik
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Giovani P Tomaleri
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.,Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Steven W Singer
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.,Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Nathan J Hillson
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.,Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Blake A Simmons
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.,Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Paul D Adams
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.,Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Michael P Thelen
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA. .,Biology and Biotechnology Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA.
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Pereira JH, McAndrew RP, Tomaleri GP, Adams PD. Berkeley Screen: a set of 96 solutions for general macromolecular crystallization. J Appl Crystallogr 2017; 50:1352-1358. [PMID: 29021733 PMCID: PMC5627680 DOI: 10.1107/s1600576717011347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2017] [Accepted: 08/01/2017] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Using statistical analysis of the Biological Macromolecular Crystallization Database, combined with previous knowledge about crystallization reagents, a crystallization screen called the Berkeley Screen has been created. Correlating crystallization conditions and high-resolution protein structures, it is possible to better understand the influence that a particular solution has on protein crystal formation. Ions and small molecules such as buffers and precipitants used in crystallization experiments were identified in electron density maps, highlighting the role of these chemicals in protein crystal packing. The Berkeley Screen has been extensively used to crystallize target proteins from the Joint BioEnergy Institute and the Collaborative Crystallography program at the Berkeley Center for Structural Biology, contributing to several Protein Data Bank entries and related publications. The Berkeley Screen provides the crystallographic community with an efficient set of solutions for general macromolecular crystallization trials, offering a valuable alternative to the existing commercially available screens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose H. Pereira
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA
| | - Ryan P. McAndrew
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA
| | | | - Paul D. Adams
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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Welner DH, Shin D, Tomaleri GP, DeGiovanni AM, Tsai AYL, Tran HM, Hansen SF, Green DT, Scheller HV, Adams PD. Plant cell wall glycosyltransferases: High-throughput recombinant expression screening and general requirements for these challenging enzymes. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0177591. [PMID: 28598995 PMCID: PMC5466300 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2017] [Accepted: 04/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular characterization of plant cell wall glycosyltransferases is a critical step towards understanding the biosynthesis of the complex plant cell wall, and ultimately for efficient engineering of biofuel and agricultural crops. The majority of these enzymes have proven very difficult to obtain in the needed amount and purity for such molecular studies, and recombinant cell wall glycosyltransferase production efforts have largely failed. A daunting number of strategies can be employed to overcome this challenge, including optimization of DNA and protein sequences, choice of expression organism, expression conditions, co-expression partners, purification methods, and optimization of protein solubility and stability. Hence researchers are presented with thousands of potential conditions to test. Ultimately, the subset of conditions that will be sampled depends on practical considerations and prior knowledge of the enzyme(s) being studied. We have developed a rational approach to this process. We devise a pipeline comprising in silico selection of targets and construct design, and high-throughput expression screening, target enrichment, and hit identification. We have applied this pipeline to a test set of Arabidopsis thaliana cell wall glycosyltransferases known to be challenging to obtain in soluble form, as well as to a library of cell wall glycosyltransferases from other plants including agricultural and biofuel crops. The screening results suggest that recombinant cell wall glycosyltransferases in general have a very low soluble:insoluble ratio in lysates from heterologous expression cultures, and that co-expression of chaperones as well as lysis buffer optimization can increase this ratio. We have applied the identified preferred conditions to Reversibly Glycosylated Polypeptide 1 from Arabidopsis thaliana, and processed this enzyme to near-purity in unprecedented milligram amounts. The obtained preparation of Reversibly Glycosylated Polypeptide 1 has the expected arabinopyranose mutase and autoglycosylation activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ditte Hededam Welner
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California, United States of America
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - David Shin
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California, United States of America
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Giovani P. Tomaleri
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California, United States of America
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Andy M. DeGiovanni
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California, United States of America
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Alex Yi-Lin Tsai
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California, United States of America
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Huu M. Tran
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California, United States of America
- Biological and Engineering Sciences Center, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California, United States of America
| | - Sara Fasmer Hansen
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California, United States of America
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | | | - Henrik V. Scheller
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California, United States of America
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Paul D. Adams
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California, United States of America
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America
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