Abstract

An efficient strategy for the expression and secretion of extracellular polyhydroxybutyrate depolymerase (PhaZ1) of Paucimonas lemoignei in Escherichia coli was developed by employing the signal peptide of PhaZ1 and a truncated ice nucleation protein anchoring motif (INPNC). Directly synthesized mature form of PhaZ1 was present in the cytoplasm of host cells as inclusion bodies, while a construct containing PhaZ1 and its own N-terminal signal peptide (PrePhaZ1) enabled the secretion of active PhaZ1 into the extracellular medium. However, the PrePhaZ1 construct was harmful to the host cell and resulted in atypical growth and instability of the plasmid during the cultivation. In contrast, INPNC-PhaZ1 and INPNCPrePhaZ1 fusion constructs did not affect growth of host cells. INPNC-PhaZ1 was successfully displayed on the cell surface with its fusion form, but did not retain PhaZ1 activity. In the case of INPNC-PrePhaZ1, the initially synthesized fusion form was separated by precise cleavage of the signal peptide, and active PhaZ1 was consequently released into the culture medium. The amount of PhaZ1 derived from E. coli (INPNC-PrePhaZ1) was almost twice as great as that directly expressed from E. coli (PrePhaZ1), and was predominantly (approximately 85%) located in the periplasm when cultivated at 22°C but was efficiently secreted into the extracellular medium when cultivated at 37°C.

• Keywords: polyhydroxybutyrate depolymerase; signal peptide; ice nucleation protein; recombinant protein; secretion; fusion protein; Escherichia coli