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Error-prone PCR of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb) to support the growth of microaerobic Escherichia coli

Andersson, Charlotte I J ; Holmberg, N ; Farrés, J ; Bailey, J E ; Bülow, L LU and Kallio, P T (2000) In Biotechnology and Bioengineering 70(4). p.55-446
Abstract

Expression of the gene encoding bacterial hemoglobin (VHb) from Vitreoscilla has been previously used to improve recombinant cell growth and enhance product formation under microaerobic conditions. It is very likely that the properties of VHb are not optimized for foreign hosts; therefore, we used error-prone PCR to generate a number of randomly mutated vhb genes to be expressed and studied in Escherichia coli. In addition, the mutated VHb proteins also contained an extension of eight residues (MTMITPSF) at the amino terminus. VHb mutants were screened for improved growth properties under microaerobic conditions and 15 clones expressing mutated hemoglobin protein were selected for further characterization and cultivated in a... (More)

Expression of the gene encoding bacterial hemoglobin (VHb) from Vitreoscilla has been previously used to improve recombinant cell growth and enhance product formation under microaerobic conditions. It is very likely that the properties of VHb are not optimized for foreign hosts; therefore, we used error-prone PCR to generate a number of randomly mutated vhb genes to be expressed and studied in Escherichia coli. In addition, the mutated VHb proteins also contained an extension of eight residues (MTMITPSF) at the amino terminus. VHb mutants were screened for improved growth properties under microaerobic conditions and 15 clones expressing mutated hemoglobin protein were selected for further characterization and cultivated in a microaerobic bioreactor to analyze the physiological effects of novel VHb proteins on cell growth. The expression of four VHb mutants, carried by pVM20, pVM50, pVM104, and pVM134, were able to enhance microaerobic growth of E. coli by approximately 22%, 155%, 50%, and 90%, respectively, with a concomitant decrease of acetate excretion into the culture medium. The vhb gene in pVM20 contains two mutations substituting residues Glu19(A17) and Glu137(H23) to Gly. pVM50 expresses a VHb protein carrying two mutations: His36(C1) to Arg36 and Gln66(E20) to Arg66. pVM104 and pVM134 express VHb proteins carrying the mutations Ala56(E10) to Gly and Ile24(B5) to Thr, respectively. Our experiments also indicate that the positive effects elicited by mutant VHb-expression from pVM20 and pVM50 are linked to the peptide tail. Removal of the N-terminal sequence reduced cell growth approximately 23% and 53%, respectively, relative to wild-type controls. These results clearly demonstrate that it is possible to obtain mutated VHb proteins with improved characteristics for improving microaerobic growth of E. coli by using combined mutation techniques, addition of a peptide tail, and random error-prone PCR.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Acetates, Aerobiosis, Bacterial Proteins, Bioreactors, Biotechnology, Carbon Monoxide, Cell Division, Escherichia coli, Ethanol, Genetic Engineering, Hemoglobins, Mutation, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Recombinant Proteins, Truncated Hemoglobins, beta-Lactamases
in
Biotechnology and Bioengineering
volume
70
issue
4
pages
10 pages
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • pmid:11005927
  • scopus:0034694155
ISSN
0006-3592
DOI
10.1002/1097-0290(20001120)70:4<446::AID-BIT10>3.0.CO;2-K
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
eb201cfa-d9e7-40b0-888d-b625cac517e9
date added to LUP
2016-04-18 15:57:38
date last changed
2024-10-04 15:23:56
@article{eb201cfa-d9e7-40b0-888d-b625cac517e9,
  abstract     = {{<p>Expression of the gene encoding bacterial hemoglobin (VHb) from Vitreoscilla has been previously used to improve recombinant cell growth and enhance product formation under microaerobic conditions. It is very likely that the properties of VHb are not optimized for foreign hosts; therefore, we used error-prone PCR to generate a number of randomly mutated vhb genes to be expressed and studied in Escherichia coli. In addition, the mutated VHb proteins also contained an extension of eight residues (MTMITPSF) at the amino terminus. VHb mutants were screened for improved growth properties under microaerobic conditions and 15 clones expressing mutated hemoglobin protein were selected for further characterization and cultivated in a microaerobic bioreactor to analyze the physiological effects of novel VHb proteins on cell growth. The expression of four VHb mutants, carried by pVM20, pVM50, pVM104, and pVM134, were able to enhance microaerobic growth of E. coli by approximately 22%, 155%, 50%, and 90%, respectively, with a concomitant decrease of acetate excretion into the culture medium. The vhb gene in pVM20 contains two mutations substituting residues Glu19(A17) and Glu137(H23) to Gly. pVM50 expresses a VHb protein carrying two mutations: His36(C1) to Arg36 and Gln66(E20) to Arg66. pVM104 and pVM134 express VHb proteins carrying the mutations Ala56(E10) to Gly and Ile24(B5) to Thr, respectively. Our experiments also indicate that the positive effects elicited by mutant VHb-expression from pVM20 and pVM50 are linked to the peptide tail. Removal of the N-terminal sequence reduced cell growth approximately 23% and 53%, respectively, relative to wild-type controls. These results clearly demonstrate that it is possible to obtain mutated VHb proteins with improved characteristics for improving microaerobic growth of E. coli by using combined mutation techniques, addition of a peptide tail, and random error-prone PCR.</p>}},
  author       = {{Andersson, Charlotte I J and Holmberg, N and Farrés, J and Bailey, J E and Bülow, L and Kallio, P T}},
  issn         = {{0006-3592}},
  keywords     = {{Acetates; Aerobiosis; Bacterial Proteins; Bioreactors; Biotechnology; Carbon Monoxide; Cell Division; Escherichia coli; Ethanol; Genetic Engineering; Hemoglobins; Mutation; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Recombinant Proteins; Truncated Hemoglobins; beta-Lactamases}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{55--446}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Biotechnology and Bioengineering}},
  title        = {{Error-prone PCR of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb) to support the growth of microaerobic Escherichia coli}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1097-0290(20001120)70:4<446::AID-BIT10>3.0.CO;2-K}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/1097-0290(20001120)70:4<446::AID-BIT10>3.0.CO;2-K}},
  volume       = {{70}},
  year         = {{2000}},
}