EXTRACELLULAR RELEASE OF A RECOMBINANT GENE-PRODUCT BY OSMOTIC SHOCK FROM IMMOBILIZED MICROALGA IN ELECTROCONDUCTIVE MEMBRANE

The unicellular blue green alga Synechococcus was immobilized in an el ectroconductive membrane of polypyrrole-agarose. The Synechococcus was recombinant with a plasmid vector encoding the ampicillin resistance gene. The gene product beta-lactamase, a periplasm enzyme of Escherich ia coli, was released to medium repeatedly by osmotic shocks. The immo bilized cells were stable for over a month and kept their viability un der electrical potentials from -0.5 V to 0.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl.