Mesa-Pereira, Beatriz,O’Connor, Paula M.,Rea, Mary C.,Cotter, Paul D.,Hill, Colin,Ross, R. Paul

2017

June

Scientific Reports

Controlled functional expression of the bacteriocins pediocin PA-1 and bactofencin A in Escherichia coli

Published

WOS: 22 ()

Bacteriocin operons Bactofencin A (class IId) Pediocin PA-1 (class IIa) Escherichia coli

7

1

3069

The bacteriocins bactofencin A (class IId) and pediocin PA-1 (class IIa) are encoded by operons with a similarly clustered gene organization including a structural peptide, an immunity protein, an ABC transporter and accessory bacteriocin transporter protein. Cloning of these operons in E. coli TunerTM (DE3) on a pETcoco-2 derived vector resulted in successful secretion of both bacteriocins. A corresponding approach, involving the construction of vectors containing different combinations of these genes, revealed that the structural and the transporter genes alone are sufficient to permit heterologous production and secretion in this host. Even though the accessory protein, usually associated with optimal disulfide bond formation, was not required for bacteriocin synthesis, its presence did result in greater pediocin PA-1 production. The simplicity of the system and the fact that the associated bacteriocins could be recovered from the extracellular medium provides an opportunity to facilitate protein engineering and the overproduction of biologically-active bacteriocins at industrial scale. Additionally, this system could enable the characterization of new bacteriocin operons where genetic tools are not available for the native producers.

2045-2322

10.1038/s41598-017-02868-w

Science Foundation Ireland

SFI/12/RC/2273