Kf. Genser et al., MOLECULAR-CLONING, SEQUENCING AND EXPRESSION IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI OF THE POLY(3-HYDROXYALKANOATE) SYNTHESIS GENES FROM ALCALIGENES LATUS DSM1124, Journal of biotechnology, 64(2-3), 1998, pp. 123-135
Fragments of chromosomal DNA from Alcaligenes latus DSM1124 were clone
d into Escherichia coli and transformants were screened for poly(D(-)-
3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] production during excess carbon supply. A
plasmid harboring a 5.5-kb insert of A. latus DNA was isolated from a
P(3HB)-producing bacterial colony. The insert was partially sequenced
and three major open reading frames (ORFs) were found, representing th
e PHA synthase (phaC), beta-ketothiolase (phaA) and acetoacetyl-Coa re
ductase (phaB) genes. They show striking homology to the Ralstonia eut
ropha (formerly Alcaligenes eutrophus) phaC (71%), phaA (77%) and phaB
(80%) genes, and are organized in the same way. The only major differ
ence is the replacement of 560 nucleotides by 160 non-homologous nucle
otides in the 5' region of phaC in A. latus. The phaC ORF lacks 29 ami
no acids at the N-terminus, compared to that of R. eutropha, and start
s with a GTG codon. The transcription start points of the operon were
determined. P(3HB) production of recombinant E. coli strains harboring
the pha operons of A. latus DSM1124 or R. eutropha H16 was investigat
ed. Both operons gave rise to less than 5% P(3HB) formation during exp
onential growth. At the end of the growth phase, the P(3HB) content re
ached approximately 20% of cell dry mass. Under nitrogen-depleted cond
itions, the A. latus pha genes gave rise to 50-52% P(3HB), compared to
33-38% for the R. eutropha pha genes. No NADH oxidase activity was de
tectable in A. latus, indicating an impaired respiratory pathway and a
dependence on PHA synthesis for storing reduction equivalents during
growth. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.