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Evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012.

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Other Authors: Theron, Jacques
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Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Theron, Jacques
author_browse Theron, Jacques
author_facet Theron, Jacques
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2012 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria E13/4/451/
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/30927
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:23.532Z
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/30927 Evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis Theron, Jacques Louw, Maureen E. Crampton, Michael C. Joubert, Lizelle Elizabeth UCTD Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. Regulated expression of heterologous genes is important for both basic research and practical applications. In addition to Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis is regarded as an appropriate host for heterologous gene expression and has been used for the production of industrial enzymes in large-scale fermentation processes. Although various inducible gene expression systems are available for E. coli, there are fewer regulated promoters available for Grampositive bacteria, such as B. subtilis, due to their stringent control of promoter usage. In this investigation, two thermally regulated promoters, designated Pro2 and Pro3, were evaluated in E. coli and B. subtilis, and subsequently used to produce an enzyme of industrial importance in B. subtilis. To enable evaluation of the Pro2 and Pro3 promoters, which are both regulated by the bacteriophage P1 temperature-sensitive C1 repressor, plasmid-based expression vectors were constructed based on the E. coli-Bacillus shuttle vector pNW33N. Using transcription fusions to the lacZ reporter gene to monitor gene expression, the strength, basal expression and induced expression of the respective promoters were evaluated. The production of - galactosidase driven by the promoters was higher at 42°C than at 30°C, both in E. coli and B. subtilis. In E. coli, the Pro3 promoter exhibited low basal expression and, under inducing conditions, gave a high level of expression (138-fold induction). In contrast, the Pro2 promoter showed higher expression strength in B. subtilis (12-fold induction). These results were verified by making use of a second, different reporter gene. Although transcription fusions to the sapS reporter gene yielded lower induction factors, these may be ascribed to the different enzyme characteristics of the respective reporters. The utility of the thermally regulated promoter systems was subsequently evaluated in B. subtilis. For this purpose, controlled overproduction of a nucleoside phosphorylase from B. halodurans was investigated. Nucleoside phosphorylases are key enzymes for the synthesis of nucleosides and nucleoside analogues, which are used as antiviral and anticancer reagents. In agreement with the above results, the highest enzyme activity was measured when the gene was cloned under the control of the Pro2 promoter (4 U/mg). To optimize the expression of the heterologous enzyme, the effects of different induction temperatures and the duration of thermal induction were investigated. The results indicated that the enzyme activity was increased 3.4-fold by growing the cells at 46°C for 4 h (13.5 U/mg). The specificity of the B. halodurans enzyme to different purine and pyrimidine nucleosides was determined by thin layer chromatography, the results of which indicated that the enzyme is a purine nucleoside phosphorylase. In conclusion, the versatility of two thermally regulated promoters was demonstrated by fusing the promoters to two different reporter genes and by overexpression of a purine nucleoside phosphorylase enzyme through modulation of the promoter systems. The data of this study demonstrated that these promoters may be suitable for controlled expression of heterologous genes in B. subtilis and E. coli and thus could have potential as an industrial application. Microbiology and Plant Pathology MSc Unrestricted 2013-09-09T07:51:46Z 2013-06-28 2013-09-09T07:51:46Z 2013-04-12 2012 2013-06-20 Dissertation Joubert, LE 2012, Evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, MSc Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30927> E13/4/451/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30927 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-06202013-170605/ © 2012 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria E13/4/451/ application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis
title Evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis
title_full Evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis
title_fullStr Evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis
title_short Evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis
title_sort evaluation of thermally regulated promoter systems for use in escherichia coli and bacillus subtilis
topic UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30927
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-06202013-170605/