USE OF HOMOLOGOUS EXPRESSION-SECRETION SIGNALS AND VECTOR-FREE STABLE CHROMOSOMAL INTEGRATION IN ENGINEERING OF LACTOBACILLUS-PLANTARUM FOR ALPHA-AMYLASE AND LEVANASE EXPRESSION

The genuine alpha-amylase gene from Bacillus lichenifonnis (amyL) is not expressed in Lactobacillus plantarum, but replacement of the amyL promoter by a strong L. plantarum promoter leads to efficient expression of the gene and secretion of more than 90% of the a-amylase into the culture supernatant. A series of L. plantarum genetic cassettes (transcription and translation with or without secretion) were cloned by translation fusion of random DNA fragments to the silent amyL coding frame in the pGIP212 probe vector (P. Hols, A. Baulard, D, Garmyn, B. Delplace, S. Hogan, and J. Delcour, Gene 118:21-30, 1992). Five different cassettes were sequenced and found to harbor genetic signals similar to those of other gram-positive bacteria. The functions of the cloned cassettes and the cassettes isolated previously from Enterococcus faecalis were compared in E. faecalis and L. plantarum, respectively. All signals were well recognized in L. plantarum, but cassettes isolated from L. plantarum led to a low level of amylase production in E. faecalis, suggesting that the L. plantarum signals are more species specific. Six transcriptional or translational fusions were constructed to express the Bacillus subtilis levanase gene (sacC) in L. plantarum. All of these constructions were capable of inducing levanase production and secretion in the culture supernatant, and, furthermore, L. plantarum strains harboring the most efficient fusions could grow in MRS medium containing inulin as the major carbon source. Finally, a two-step chromosomal integration procedure was used to achieve efficient stabilization of an amylase construction without any residual resistance marker or vector sequence.