Abstract
To biosynthesize fluorescent Spirulina platensis (Sp) β-phycocyanin (PC) in Escherichia coli, a BLASTP search for homologs of the cpeS gene, a chromophore lyase, was performed against the Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (S6) proteome. A highly homologous gene, slr2049, was obtained from the S6 genome. Sites 82 and 153 in β-phycocyanin of Sp were modified by site-directed mutagenesis. Two recombinant expression vectors were constructed and transformed into E. coli BL21: (i) pCDF-cpcB (C153A)-slr2049-sll0583-ho1-pcyA; and (ii) pCDF-cpcB (C82I)-slr2049-sll0583-ho1-pcyA. Lyases encoded by the genes slr2049 and sll0583 catalyzed the linking of Sp 82β-PC to phycocyanobilin (PCB), and fluorescent CpcB (C153A)-PCB was generated. We present a strategy for the co-expression of multiple genes in a single expression vector to identify the function of an unknown gene. Recombinant phycobiliproteins produced on a large scale are promising fluorescent tags for diagnostics and pharmacology.
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Guan, X., Zhang, W., Chi, X. et al. Combinational biosynthesis and characterization of a fluorescent 82β-phycocyanin of Spirulina platensis . Chin. Sci. Bull. 57, 3294–3299 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-012-5264-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-012-5264-2