• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.353-356
• /
• 2004

In a previous study, a gst gene was isolated from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. This gene was dubbed gstI, and was characterized using the gstI -lacZ fusion plasmid pYSH2000. In this work, four additional fusion plasmids, pYSHSDl, pYSHSD2, pYSHSD3 and pYSHSD4, were constructed, in order to carry (respectively) 770, 551, 358 and 151 bp upstream regions from the translational initiation point. The sequence responsible for induction by aluminum, mercury and hydrogen peroxide was located in the range between -1,088 and -770 bp upstream of the S. pombe gstI gene. The same region was identified to contain the nucleotide sequence responsible for regulation by Papl, and has one puta­tive Papl binding site, TTACGTAT, located in the range between $-954\~-947$ bp upstream of the gstI gene. Negatively acting sequences are located between -1,088 and -151 bp. These findings imply that the Papl protein is involved in basal and inducible transcription of the gstI gene in the fission yeast S. pombe.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.167-172
• /
• 1997

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mutant CH117, shows a drug-hypersensitivity (dhs) to cycloheximide, bleomycin, actinomycin D, 5-fluorouracil. nystatin, nigericin and several other antibiotics. CH 117 was also temperature-sensitive (ts). being unable to grow at $37^{\circ}C$ and secreted more invertase and acid phosphatase into the medium than the parent yeast. CH117 grows very slowly and the cell shape is somewhat larger and more sensitive to zymolyase than the wild type cells. Light microscopic and electron microscopic observation also revealed abnormality of the mutant cell wall. These characteristics indicate that CH117 has a defect in an essential component of the cell surface and that the cell wall which performs barrier functions has become leaky in the mutant. We screened a genomic library of wild type yeast for clones that can complement the mutation of CH117. A plasmid, pCHX1, with an insert of 3.6 kilobases (kbs) could complement the dhs and ts of CH117. Deletion and subcloning of the 3.6 kb insert showed that a gene for the complementation of mutant phenotypes was located in 1.9 kbs Puvll-Hindlll fragment.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.562-567
• /
• 2002

In order to find the cellular interaction factors of the Heliothis armigera nuclear polyhedrosis virus capsid protein VP39, a Heliothis armigera cell cDNA library was constructed. Then VP39 was used as bait. The host actin gene was isolated from the cDNA library with the yeast two-hybrid system. This demonstrated that VP39 could interact with its host actin in yeast. In order to corroborate this interaction in vivo, the vp39 gene was fused with the green fluorescent protein gene in plasmid pEGFP39. The fusion protein was expressed in the Hz-AM1 cells under the control of the Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus immediate early gene promoter. The host actin was labeled specifically by the red fluorescence substance, tetramethy rhodamine isothicyanete-phalloidin. Observation under a fluorescence microscopy showed that VP39, which was indicated by green fluorescence, began to appear in the cells 6 h after being transfected with pEGFP39. Red actin cables were also formed in the cytoplasm at the same time. Actin was aggregated in the nucleus 9 h after the transfection. The green and red fluorescence always appeared in the same location of the cells, which demonstrated that VP39 could combine with the host actin. Such a combination would result in the actin skeleton rearrangement.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.6-13
• /
• 1995

A gene coding for the $\beta$-galactosidase (lactase) of Kluyveromyces tragilis UCD 55-55 was isolated by complementation in Escherichia coli YMC9. From the plasmid library made from Sau3A-digested chromosomal DNA, one positive clone was selected. The cloned gene for $\beta$-galactosidase was on 7.3 kilobase pair DNA fragment, and a slightly low level of $\beta$-galactosidase enzyme activity was detecied in E. coli. It was also confirmed that the cloned gene comes from K. tragilis by DNA-DNA hybridization and immunochemical blotting experiments. In order to construct a new yeast strain having the metabolic ability for lactose, the cloned gene for K. tragilis $\beta$-galactosidase was inserted in yeast vector YEp24 and YRp17, and transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae YNN27 and Ml-2B. The yeast transformants showed the nearly the same $\beta$-galactosidase productivity as level of K. tragilis when uninduced, but these could not utilize lactose as a sole carbon source, presumably due to the lack of lactose transport system. Nevertheless, a slightly higher ethanol productivity was achieved by these transformants than S. cerevisiae or K. tragilis, in the medium containing glucose and lactose.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.201-207
• /
• 1995

We have previously reported that SPP2 gene product of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is involved in the pre-mRNA splicing. To investigate the rol ein the splicing pathway of the Spp2p protein, the SPP2 gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and polyclonal antibodies to Spp2p were generated from rabbits. First, a DNA fragment containing the SPP2 GENE without its promoter was subcloned into an E. coli expression vector, pKK233-3. The resulting recombinant plasmid pBQ14 contained an IPTG inducible tac promoter and the SPP2 structural gene. Overexpression of the SPP2 gene was achieved by additionof 0.1 to 1.0 mM IPTG to a logarithmic culture of E. coli JM103(pBQ14) for 90 min at 37.deg.C. Sequence of N-terminal 15 amino acids of the overproduced protein was well matched to the deduced one from the SPP2 reading frame. Then, polyclonal antibodies were generated from rabbits immunized with gel-purified SppSp protein. These antibodies reacted specifically with the Spp2p protein extracted from yeast cells expressing the SPP2 gene to a great extent. The antibodies could also block the activity of yeast splicing extracts.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 1990

The coding sequence of hepatitis B viral core antigen (HBcAg) (subtype adr) contains two in-phase initiation codons, one for precore and the other for core antigen gene. To study the expression of core antigen and the role of precore region, the coding sequence of HBcAg with or without precore (pre-C) region were subcloned into yeast expression vector containing phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) promoter. To study the role of upstream region in the expression of the core antigen, a series of 5' deletion mutants were also subcloned into the vector. After transformation into various host strains, the expression of HBcAg were analysed by radio-immunoassat. Under optimal condition of core antigen gene expression in yeast, the highest amount of antigen was detected in the cell line SHY4 containing pGKHBc plasmid composed of the yeast PGK gene promoter, terminator and C-gene. Regardless of the presence of precore region, core antigen was not detected in the medium but in cell extract. These results suggest that precore region cannot affect the secretion of core antigen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.359-364
• /
• 1996

By both in vitro hydroxylamine mutagenesis of the wild type 3-phosphoglycerate kinase gene (PGK) promoter DNA and insertion of the leu2-d gene, we have created yeast expression vectors potentially useful for production of eukaryotic genes in yeast. The guanine (G) to adenine (A) change at the -3 position from the ATG start codon of the PGK promoter-based vector rendered a 6~7 times elevated expression of the adjacent eukaryotic gene, and insertion of the leu2-d gene in the vector containing the mutated PGK promoter further enhanced the expression of the gene. When expression of the AIDS virus HIV1-gagP17 gene in a lacZ fusion form was examined with this new vector, a 15 times higher level of expression than that from the original PGK promoter was observed. Northern and Southern analysis showed that this elevated expression is due to the production of a high copy number of mRNA by leu2-d gene functioning and by efficient translation of the produced mRNA. Thus, the vector that contained the A at the -3 position from the ATG start codon in the promoter region and the leu2-d gene shows increased expression capability and will be potentially useful for production of eukaryotic genes in yeast.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.354-360
• /
• 2005

Heat-labile enterotoxin B subunit (LTB) of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is both a strong mucosal adjuvant and immunogen. It is a subunit vaccine candidate to be used against ETEC-induced diarrhea. It has already been expressed in several bacterial and plant systems. In order to construct yeast expressing vector for the LTB protein, the eltB gene encoding LTB was amplified from a human origin enterotoxigenic E. coli DNA by PCR. The expression plasmid pLTB83 was constructed by inserting the eltB gene into the pYES2 shuttle vector immediately downstream of the GAL1 promoter. The recombinant vector was transformed into S. cerevisiae and was then induced by galactose. The LTB protein was detected in the total soluble protein of the yeast by SDS-PAGE analysis. Quantitative ELISA showed that the maximum amount of LTB protein expressed in the yeast was approximately $1.9\%$ of the total soluble protein. Immunoblotting analysis showed the yeast-derived LTB protein was antigenically indistinguishable from bacterial LTB protein. Since the whole-recombinant yeast has been introduced as a new vaccine formulation the expression of LTB in S. cerevisiae can offer an inexpensive yet effective strategy to protect against ETEC, especially in developing countries where it is needed most.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.142-147
• /
• 2012

The sporulation-specific glucoamylase (SGA) of Saccharomyces diastaticus is known to be produced in the cytoplasm during sporulation. For the purpose of proving that SGA has secretory potential, we constructed a hybrid plasmid, pYESC25, containing the promoter and the putative signal sequence of the SGA fused in frame to the endo-1,4-${\beta}$-D-glucanase (CMCase) gene of Bacillus subtilis without its own signal sequence. The recipient yeast strain of S. diastaticus YIY345 was transformed with the hybrid plasmid. CMCase secretion from S. diastaticus harboring pYESC25 into culture medium was confirmed by the formation of yellowish halos around transformants after staining with Congo red on a CMC agar plate. The transformant culture was fractionated to the extracellular, periplasmic, and intracellular fraction, followed by the measurement of CMCase activity. About 63% and 13% enzyme activity were detected in the culture supernatant (extracellular fraction) and periplasmic fraction, respectively. Furthermore, ConA-Sepharose chromatography, native gel electrophoresis, and activity staining revealed that CMCase produced in yeast was glycosylated and its molecular weight was larger than that of the unglycosylated form from B. subtilis. Taking these findings together, SGA has the potential of secretion to culture medium, and the putative signal sequence of SGA can efficiently direct bacterial CMCase to the yeast secretion pathway.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.379-384
• /
• 2001

The cDNA encoding ribosomal protein was identified from a cDNA library of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The nucleotide sequence of the 548 by cDNA clone reveals an open reading frame, which encodes a putative protein of 166 amino acids with a molecular mass of 18.3 kDa. The amino acid sequence of the S. pombe L11 protein is highly homologous with those of rat and fruit, while it is clearly less similar to those of prokaryotic counterparts. The 1,044 by upstream sequence, and the region encoding N-terminal 7 amino acids of the genomic DNA were fused into the promoterless $\beta$-galactosidase gene of the shuttle vector YEp357 in order to generate the fusion plasmid pHY L11. Synthesis of $\beta$-galactosidase from the fusion plasmid varied according to the growth curve. It decreased significantly in the growth-arrested yeast cells that were treated with aluminum chloride and mercuric chloride. However, it was enhanced by treatments with cadmium chloride ($2.5\;{\mu}M$), zinc chloride ($2.5\;{\mu}M$), and hydrogen peroxide (0.5 mM). This indicates that the expression of the L,11 gene could be induced by oxidative stress.