scholarly journals Creating Hybrid Genes by Homologous Recombination

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter L. Wang

Recombination of homologous genes is a powerful mechanism for generating sequence diversity, and can be applied to protein analysis and directed evolution.In vitrorecombination methods such as DNA shuffling are very flexible and can give hybrid genes with multiple crossovers; they have been used extensively to evolve proteins with improved and novel properties.In vivorecombination in bothE. coliand yeast is greatly enhanced by double-strand breaks; forE. coli, mutant strains are often necessary to obtain high efficiency. Intra- and inter-molecular recombinationIn vivohave distinct features; both give hybrids with one or two crossovers, and have been used to study structure-function relationships of many proteins. Recentlyin vivorecombination has been used to generate diversity for directed evolution, creating a large phage display antibody library. Recombination methods will become increasingly useful in light of the explosion in genomic sequence data and potential for engineered proteins.

2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (21) ◽  
pp. 8059-8068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chonghui Cheng ◽  
Stewart Shuman

ABSTRACT Topoisomerase IB catalyzes recombinogenic DNA strand transfer reactions in vitro and in vivo. Here we characterize a new pathway of topoisomerase-mediated DNA ligation in vitro (flap ligation) in which vaccinia virus topoisomerase bound to a blunt-end DNA joins the covalently held strand to a 5′ resected end of a duplex DNA containing a 3′ tail. The joining reaction occurs with high efficiency when the sequence of the 3′ tail is complementary to that of the scissile strand immediately 5′ of the cleavage site. A 6-nucleotide segment of complementarity suffices for efficient flap ligation. Invasion of the flap into the duplex apparently occurs while topoisomerase remains bound to DNA, thereby implying a conformational flexibility of the topoisomerase clamp around the DNA target site. The 3′ flap acceptor DNA mimics a processed end in the double-strand-break-repair recombination pathway. Our findings suggest that topoisomerase-induced breaks may be rectified by flap ligation, with ensuing genomic deletions or translocations.


2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying-Ta Lai ◽  
Warren Masker

ABSTRACT An in vitro system based on extracts of Escherichia coli infected with bacteriophage T7 is able to repair double-strand breaks in a T7 genome with efficiencies of 20% or more. To achieve this high repair efficiency it is necessary that the reaction mixtures contain molecules of donor DNA that bracket the double-strand break. Gaps as long as 1,600 nucleotides are repaired almost as efficiently as simple double-strand breaks. DNA synthesis was measured while repair was taking place. It was found that the amount of DNA synthesis associated with repair of a double-strand break was below the level of detection possible with this system. Furthermore, repair efficiencies were the same with or without normal levels of T7 DNA polymerase. However, the repair required the 5′→3′ exonuclease encoded by T7 gene 6. The high efficiency of DNA repair allowed visualization of the repaired product after in vitro repair, thereby assuring that the repair took place in vitro rather than during an in vivo growth step after packaging.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-Bo Yan ◽  
Jing-Long Liang ◽  
Fu-Xing Niu ◽  
Yu-Ping Shen ◽  
Jian-Zhong Liu

Pterostilbene is a derivative of resveratrol with a higher bioavailability and biological activity, which shows antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antiaging activities. Here, directed evolution and host strain engineering were used to improve the production of pterostilbene in Escherichia coli. First, the heterologous biosynthetic pathway enzymes of pterostilbene, including tyrosine ammonia lyase, p-coumarate: CoA ligase, stilbene synthase, and resveratrol O-methyltransferase, were successively directly evolved through error-prone polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Four mutant enzymes with higher activities of in vivo and in vitro were obtained. The directed evolution of the pathway enzymes increased the pterostilbene production by 13.7-fold. Then, a biosensor-guided genome shuffling strategy was used to improve the availability of the precursor L-tyrosine of the host strain E. coli TYR-30 used for the production of pterostilbene. A shuffled E. coli strain with higher L-tyrosine production was obtained. The shuffled strain harboring the evolved pathway produced 80.04 ± 5.58 mg/l pterostilbene, which is about 2.3-fold the highest titer reported in literatures.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Prakash ◽  
Travis Lantz ◽  
Krupal P. Jethava ◽  
Gaurav Chopra

Amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients primarily consists of amyloid beta 1-42 (Ab42). Commercially, Ab42 is synthetized using peptide synthesizers. We describe a robust methodology for expression of recombinant human Ab(M1-42) in Rosetta(DE3)pLysS and BL21(DE3)pLysS competent E. coli with refined and rapid analytical purification techniques. The peptide is isolated and purified from the transformed cells using an optimized set-up for reverse-phase HPLC protocol, using commonly available C18 columns, yielding high amounts of peptide (~15-20 mg per 1 L culture) in a short time. The recombinant Ab(M1-42) forms characteristic aggregates similar to synthetic Ab42 aggregates as verified by western blots and atomic force microscopy to warrant future biological use. Our rapid, refined, and robust technique to purify human Ab(M1-42) can be used to synthesize chemical probes for several downstream in vitro and in vivo assays to facilitate AD research.


Microbiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 152 (7) ◽  
pp. 2129-2135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taku Oshima ◽  
Francis Biville

Functional characterization of unknown genes is currently a major task in biology. The search for gene function involves a combination of various in silico, in vitro and in vivo approaches. Available knowledge from the study of more than 21 LysR-type regulators in Escherichia coli has facilitated the classification of new members of the family. From sequence similarities and its location on the E. coli chromosome, it is suggested that ygiP encodes a lysR regulator controlling the expression of a neighbouring operon; this operon encodes the two subunits of tartrate dehydratase (TtdA, TtdB) and YgiE, an integral inner-membrane protein possibly involved in tartrate uptake. Expression of tartrate dehydratase, which converts tartrate to oxaloacetate, is required for anaerobic growth on glycerol as carbon source in the presence of tartrate. Here, it has been demonstrated that disruption of ygiP, ttdA or ygjE abolishes tartrate-dependent anaerobic growth on glycerol. It has also been shown that tartrate-dependent induction of the ttdA-ttdB-ygjE operon requires a functional YgiP.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6865
Author(s):  
Eun Seon Lee ◽  
Joung Hun Park ◽  
Seong Dong Wi ◽  
Ho Byoung Chae ◽  
Seol Ki Paeng ◽  
...  

The thioredoxin-h (Trx-h) family of Arabidopsis thaliana comprises cytosolic disulfide reductases. However, the physiological function of Trx-h2, which contains an additional 19 amino acids at its N-terminus, remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the molecular function of Trx-h2 both in vitro and in vivo and found that Arabidopsis Trx-h2 overexpression (Trx-h2OE) lines showed significantly longer roots than wild-type plants under cold stress. Therefore, we further investigated the role of Trx-h2 under cold stress. Our results revealed that Trx-h2 functions as an RNA chaperone by melting misfolded and non-functional RNAs, and by facilitating their correct folding into active forms with native conformation. We showed that Trx-h2 binds to and efficiently melts nucleic acids (ssDNA, dsDNA, and RNA), and facilitates the export of mRNAs from the nucleus to the cytoplasm under cold stress. Moreover, overexpression of Trx-h2 increased the survival rate of the cold-sensitive E. coli BX04 cells under low temperature. Thus, our data show that Trx-h2 performs function as an RNA chaperone under cold stress, thus increasing plant cold tolerance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Zheng ◽  
Na Tian ◽  
Fei Liu ◽  
Yidian Zhang ◽  
Jingfen Su ◽  
...  

AbstractIntraneuronal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau is a hallmark pathology shown in over twenty neurodegenerative disorders, collectively termed as tauopathies, including the most common Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Therefore, selectively removing or reducing hyperphosphorylated tau is promising for therapies of AD and other tauopathies. Here, we designed and synthesized a novel DEPhosphorylation TArgeting Chimera (DEPTAC) to specifically facilitate the binding of tau to Bα-subunit-containing protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A-Bα), the most active tau phosphatase in the brain. The DEPTAC exhibited high efficiency in dephosphorylating tau at multiple AD-associated sites and preventing tau accumulation both in vitro and in vivo. Further studies revealed that DEPTAC significantly improved microtubule assembly, neurite plasticity, and hippocampus-dependent learning and memory in transgenic mice with inducible overexpression of truncated and neurotoxic human tau N368. Our data provide a strategy for selective removal of the hyperphosphorylated tau, which sheds new light for the targeted therapy of AD and related-tauopathies.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 2223
Author(s):  
Manon Dominique ◽  
Nicolas Lucas ◽  
Romain Legrand ◽  
Illona-Marie Bouleté ◽  
Christine Bôle-Feysot ◽  
...  

CLPB (Caseinolytic peptidase B) protein is a conformational mimetic of α-MSH, an anorectic hormone. Previous in vivo studies have already shown the potential effect of CLPB protein on food intake and on the production of peptide YY (PYY) by injection of E. coli wild type (WT) or E. coli ΔClpB. However, until now, no study has shown its direct effect on food intake. Furthermore, this protein can fragment naturally. Therefore, the aim of this study was (i) to evaluate the in vitro effects of CLPB fragments on PYY production; and (ii) to test the in vivo effects of a CLPB fragment sharing molecular mimicry with α-MSH (CLPB25) compared to natural fragments of the CLPB protein (CLPB96). To do that, a primary culture of intestinal mucosal cells from male Sprague–Dawley rats was incubated with proteins extracted from E. coli WT and ΔCLPB after fragmentation with trypsin or after a heat treatment of the CLPB protein. PYY secretion was measured by ELISA. CLPB fragments were analyzed by Western Blot using anti-α-MSH antibodies. In vivo effects of the CLPB protein on food intake were evaluated by intraperitoneal injections in male C57Bl/6 and ob/ob mice using the BioDAQ® system. The natural CLPB96 fragmentation increased PYY production in vitro and significantly decreased cumulative food intake from 2 h in C57Bl/6 and ob/ob mice on the contrary to CLPB25. Therefore, the anorexigenic effect of CLPB is likely the consequence of enhanced PYY secretion.


1987 ◽  
Vol 248 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Charlier ◽  
R Sanchez

In contrast with most aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, the lysyl-tRNA synthetase of Escherichia coli is coded for by two genes, the normal lysS gene and the inducible lysU gene. During its purification from E. coli K12, lysyl-tRNA synthetase was monitored by its aminoacylation and adenosine(5′)tetraphospho(5′)adenosine (Ap4A) synthesis activities. Ap4A synthesis was measured by a new assay using DEAE-cellulose filters. The heterogeneity of lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS) was revealed on hydroxyapatite; we focused on the first peak, LysRS1, because of its higher Ap4A/lysyl-tRNA activity ratio at that stage. Additional differences between LysRS1 and LysRS2 (major peak on hydroxyapatite) were collected. LysRS1 was eluted from phosphocellulose in the presence of the substrates, whereas LysRS2 was not. Phosphocellulose chromatography was used to show the increase of LysRS1 in cells submitted to heat shock. Also, the Mg2+ optimum in the Ap4A-synthesis reaction is much higher for LysRS1. LysRS1 showed a higher thermostability, which was specifically enhanced by Zn2+. These results in vivo and in vitro strongly suggest that LysRS1 is the heat-inducible lysU-gene product.


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