José Luis Barredo

The tylosin biosynthetic cluster from Streptomyces fradiae: genetic organization of the left region

The genetic organization of the left edge (tyIEDHFJ region) of the tylosin biosynthetic gene cluster from Streptomyces fradiae has been determined. Sequence analysis of a 12.9 kb region has revealed the presence of 11 ORFs, 10 of them belonging to the biosynthetic cluster. The putative functions of the proteins encoded by these genes are as follows: peptidase (ORF1, ddcA), tylosin resistance determinant (ORF2, tlrB), glycosyltransferase (ORF3, tylN), methyltransferase (ORF4, tylE), ketoreductase (ORF5, tylD), ferredoxin (ORF6, tylH2), cytochrome P450 (ORF7, tylH1), methyltransferase (ORF8, tylF), epimerase (ORF9, tylJ), acyl-CoA oxidase (ORF10, tylP) and receptor of regulatory factors (ORF11, tylQ). The functional identification of the genes in the proposed tylosin biosynthetic pathway has been deduced by database searches and previous genetic complementation studies performed with tylosin idiotrophic mutants blocked at various stages in tylosin biosynthesis. The tlrB gene has been shown to be useful as a tylosin resistance marker in Streptomyces lividans, Streptomyces parvulus and Streptomyces coelicolor and the effect of tylF on macrocin depletion has been confirmed. A pathway for the biosynthesis of 6-deoxy-D-allose, the unmethylated mycinose precursor, involving the genes tylD, tylJ and tylN is proposed.

Large amplification of a 35-kb DNA fragment carrying two penicillin biosynthetic genes in high penicillin producing strains of Penicillium chrysogenum

SummaryThe isopenicillin N synthase (pcbC) and acyl-CoA:6-APA acyltransferase (penDE) genes of Penicillium chrysogenum were located in a 19.5-kb DNA fragment that had been previously cloned in phage vector EMBL3. This 19.5-kb DNA fragment was mapped with several endonucleases, and the (pcbC) and penDE genes were located by hybridization with probes corresponding to internal fragments of each gene. A low penicillin producing strain (P. chrysogenum Wis 54-1255) and two high producing strains (AS-P-78 and P2) showed hybridizing fragments of identical sizes in their chromosomes. Dot-blot hybridization of serial dilutions of the total DNA of the three strains showed that the intensity of all the hybridizing bands was much higher in strains AS-P-78 and P2 than in Wis 54-1255. Hybridization of total DNA digestions with probes corresponding to fragments which mapped upstream or downstream of the pcbC-penDE region revealed that a fragment of at least 35 kb DNA has been amplified 9 to 14 fold in the high penicillin producing strains. The amplified region did not include the previously cloned pyrG gene that encodes OMP-decarboxylase, an enzyme involved in pyrimidine biosynthesis.

Environmentally safe production of 7-aminodeacetoxycephalosporanic acid (7-ADCA) using recombinant strains of Acremonium chrysogenum

Medically useful semisynthetic cephalosporins are made from 7-aminodeacetoxycephalosporanic acid (7-ADCA) or 7-aminocephalosporanic acid (7-ACA). Here we describe a new industrially amenable bioprocess for the production of the important intermediate 7-ADCA that can replace the expensive and environmentally unfriendly chemical method classically used. The method is based on the disruption and one-step replacement of the cefEF gene, encoding the bifunctional expandase/hydroxylase activity, of an actual industrial cephalosporin C production strain of Acremonium chrysogenum. Subsequent cloning and expression of the cefE gene from Streptomyces clavuligerus in A. chrysogenum yield recombinant strains producing high titers of deacetoxycephalosporin C (DAOC). Production level of DAOC is nearly equivalent (75–80%) to the total β-lactams biosynthesized by the parental overproducing strain. DAOC deacylation is carried out by two final enzymatic bioconversions catalyzed by D-amino acid oxidase (DAO) and glutaryl acylase (GLA) yielding 7-ADCA. In contrast to the data reported for recombinant strains of Penicillium chrysogenum expressing ring expansion activity, no detectable contamination with other cephalosporin intermediates occurred.

Cloning, sequence analysis and transcriptional study of the isopenicillin N synthase of Penicillium chrysogenum AS-P-78

SummaryA gene (ips) encoding the isopenicillin N synthase of Penicillium chrysogenum AS-P-78 was cloned in a 3.9 kb SalI fragment using a probe corresponding to the aminoterminal end of the enzyme. The SalI fragment was trimmed down to a 1.3 kb NcoI-BglII fragment that contained an open reading frame of 996 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide of 331 amino acids with an Mr of 38012 dalton. The predicted polypeptide encoded by the ips gene of strain AS-P-78 contains a tyrosine at position 195, whereas the gene of the high penicillin producing strain 23X-80-269-37-2 shows an isoleucine at the same position. The ips gene is expressed in Escherichia coli minicells using the λ phage PL promoter. Some similar sequence motifs were found in the upstream region of the ips gene of P. chrysogenum when compared with the upstream sequences of the ips genes of Cephalosporium acremonium and Aspergillus nidulans. Primer extension studies indicated that the start of the mRNA coincides with a T in position-11 which is located in a conserved pyrimidine-rich sequence, near two CAAG boxes. Clones of P. chrysogenum Wis 54–1255 transformed with the ips gene showed a five-fold higher isopenicillin N synthase activity than the untransformed cultures.

Selection and characterization of pyrG mutants of Penicillium chrysogenum lacking orotidine-5′-phosphate decarboxylase and complementation by the pyr4 gene of Neurospora crassaa

SummaryPyrimidine auxotrophs of Penicillium chrysogenum have been isolated at a high frequency among mutants resistant to 5-fluoroorotic acid (5.2 mM). Some of the pyrimidine auxotrophs (e.g. strain pyrG1) showed no reversion. A radiometric assay based on the conversion of (6-14C)orotidine 5′-monophosphate (OMP) into (6-14C)uridine 5′-monophosphate (UMP) was developed to determine OMP-decarboxylase activity. One of the pyrimidine auxotrophs (P. chrysogenum pyrGl) was studied in detail. It was deficient in OMP-decarboxylase activity, whereas the parental strain (P. chrysogenum Wis. 54-1255) showed a normal enzyme activity. A five-fold higher OMP-decarboxylase activity was found in a P. chrysogenum pyrGI clone transformed with plasmids containing the Neurospora crassa pyr4 gene (which codes for the same enzyme).

Selective adsorption of poly-His tagged glutaryl acylase on tailor-made metal chelate supports

A poly-His tag was fused in the glutaryl acylase (GA) from Acinetobacter sp. strain YS114 cloned in E. coli yielding a fully active enzyme. Biochemical analyses showed that the tag did not alter the maturation of the chimeric GA (poly-His GA) that undergoes a complex post-translational processing from an inactive monomeric precursor to the active heterodimeric enzyme. This enzyme has been used as a model to develop a novel and very simple procedure for one-step purification of poly-His proteins via immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography on tailor-made supports. It was intended to improve the selectivity of adsorption of the target protein on tailor-made chelate supports instead of performing a selective desorption. The rate and extent of the adsorption of proteins from a crude extract from E. coli and of pure poly-His tagged GA on different metal chelate supports was studied. Up to 90% of proteins from E. coli were adsorbed on commercial chelate supports having a high density of ligands attached to the support through long spacer arms, while this adsorption becomes almost negligible when using low ligand densities, short spacer arms and Zn2+ or Co2+ as cations. On the contrary, poly-His GA adsorbs strongly enough on all supports. A strong affinity interaction between the poly-His tail and a single chelate moiety seems to be the responsible for the adsorption of poly-His GA. By contrast, multipoint weak interactions involving a number of chelate moieties seem to be mainly responsible for adsorption of natural proteins. By using tailor-made affinity supports, a very simple procedure for one-step purification of GA with minimal adsorption of host proteins could be performed. Up to 20 mg of GA were adsorbed on each ml of chelate support while most of accompanying proteins were hardly adsorbed on such supports. Following few washing steps, the target enzyme was finally recovered (80% yield) by elution with 50 mM imidazole with a very high increment of specific activity (up to a 120 purification factor).

Expression of the cefG gene is limiting for cephalosporin biosynthesis in Acremonium chrysogenum

Abstract The conversion of deacetylcephalosporin C to cephalosporin C is inefficient in most Acremonium chrysogenum strains. The cefG gene, which encodes deacetylcephalosporin C acetyltransferase, is expressed very poorly in A. chrysogenum as compared to other genes of the cephalosporin pathway. Introduction of additional copies of the cefG gene with its native promoter (in two different constructions with upstream regions of 1056 bp and 538 bp respectively) did not produce a significant increase of the steady-state level of the cefG transcript. Expression of the cefG gene from the promoters of (i) the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd ) gene of Aspergillus nidulans, (ii) the glucoamylase (gla) gene of Aspergillus niger, (iii) the glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) and (iv) the isopenicillin N synthase ( pcbC ) genes of Penicillium chrysogenum, led to very high steady-state levels of cefG transcript and to increased deacetylcephalosporin-C acetyltransferase protein concentration (as shown by immunoblotting) and enzyme activity in the transformants. Southern analysis showed that integration of the new constructions occurred at sites different from that of the endogenous cefG gene. Cephalosporin production was increased two- to threefold in A. chrysogenum C10 transformed with constructions in which the cefG gene was expressed from the gdh or gpd promoters as a result of a more efficient acetylation of deacetylcephalosporin C.

Expression of the penDE gene of Penicillium chrysogenum encoding isopenicillin N acyltransferase in Cephalosporium acremonium: production of benzylpenicillin by the transformants

SummaryNo DNA sequence homologous to the penDE gene of Penicillium chrysogenum was found in the genome of three different strains of Cephalosporium acremonium. The pcbC-penDE gene cluster of P. chrysogenum complemented the isopenicillin N synthase deficiency of C. acremonium mutant N2 and resulted in the production of penicillin, in addition to cephalosporin, in cultures supplemented with phenylacetic acid. The penicillin formed was identified as benzylpenicillin by HPLC and NMR studies. The penDE gene of P. chrysogenum is expressed in C. acremonium forming a transcript of 1.15 kb. The transcript is processed and translated in C. acremonium resulting in the formation of acyl CoA isopenicillin N acyl transferase. When the penDE gene was introduced into a cephalosporin producing strain, the total titre of β-lactam antibiotics comprised distinct proportions of penicillin and cephalosporin in different transformants. Analysis of the hybridization patterns of the DNA of C. acremonium transformed with the pcbC or penDE genes indicated that integration occurs by non-homologous recombination.

The clavulanic acid biosynthetic cluster of Streptomyces clavuligerus: genetic organization of the region upstream of the car gene.

The genetic organization of the region upstream of the car gene of the clavulanic acid biosynthetic gene cluster of Streptomyces clavuligerus has been determined. Sequence analysis of a 12.1 kb region revealed the presence of 10 ORFs whose putative functions, according to database searches, are discussed. Three co-transcriptional units are proposed: ORF10-11, ORF12-13 and ORF15-16-17-18. Potential transcriptional terminators were identified downstream of ORF11 (fd) and ORF15. Targeted disruption of ORF10 (cyp) gave rise to transformants unable to produce clavulanic acid, but with a considerably higher production of cephamycin C. Transformants inactivated at ORF14 had a remarkably lower production of clavulanic acid and similar production of cephamycin C. Significant improvements of clavulanic acid production, associated with a drop in cephamycin C biosynthesis, were obtained with transformants of S. clavuligerus harbouring multiple copies of plasmids carrying different constructions from the ORF10-14 region. This information can be used to guide strain improvement programs, blending random mutagenesis and molecular cloning, to optimize the yield of clavulanic acid.

Cloning, characterization of the acyl-CoA : 6-amino penicillanic acid acyltransferase gene of Aspergillus nidulans and linkage to the isopenicillin N synthase gene

SummaryThe penDE gene encoding acyl-CoA:6-amino penicillanic acid acyltransferase (AAT), the last enzyme of the penicillin biosynthetic pathway, has been cloned from the DNA of Aspergillus nidulans. The gene contains three introns which are located in the 5′ region of the open reading frame. It encodes a protein of 357 amino acids with a molecular weight of 39 240 Da. The penDE gene of A. nidulans shows 73% similarity at the nucleotide level with the penDE gene of Penicillium chrysogenum. The A. nidulans gene was expressed in P. chrysogenum and complemented the AAT deficiency of the non-producer mutants of P. chrysogenum, npe6 and npe8. The penDE gene of A. nidulans is linked to the pcbC gene, which encodes the isopenicillin N synthase, as also occurs in P. chrysogenum. Both genes show the same orientation and are separated by an intergenic region of 822 nucleotides.