FOREIGN GENE-EXPRESSION IN MARINE CYANOBACTERIA UNDER PSEUDOCONTINUOUS CULTURE

Foreign gene expression in a marine cyanobacterium, Synechococcus NKBG 15041c, has been carried out in both batch and pseudo-continuous culture, using chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) as a model peptide and the broad host range vector pKT230. CAT has been successfully expressed in marine cyanobacteria under kanamycin resistance gene promoter. Pseudo-continuous culture of these recombinant marine cyanobacteria has been done by varying the dilution rate. At a dilution rate between 0.01 to 0.02 h(-1), highest productivity was achieved. Under these conditions, long-term pseudo-continuous culture of recombinant marine cyanobacteria was achieved for more than 600 h with CAT productivity 18-fold greater than that observed in batch culture.