Abstract
Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM is a probiotic microbe with the ability to survive passage to the gastrointestinal tract, interact intimately with the host and induce immune responses. The genome of NCFM has been determined and the bacterium is genetically accessible. Therefore, L. acidophilus has excellent potential for use as a vaccine delivery vehicle to express antigens at mucosal surfaces. Plasmids, commonly used to carry antigen encoding genes, are inherently unstable and require constant selection by antibiotics, which can be problematic for in vivo studies and clinical trials. Chromosomal expression of gene cassettes encoding antigens offers enhanced genetic stability by eliminating requirements for marker selection. This work illustrates the integration and inducible expression of the reporter gene gusA3, encoding a β-glucuronidase (GusA3), in the L. acidophilus chromosome. A previously described upp-counterselectable gene replacement system was used to direct insertion of the gusA3 gene into an intergenic chromosomal location downstream of lacZ (LBA1462), encoding a β-galactosidase. The transcriptional activity of integrated gusA3 was evaluated by GUS activity assays using 4-methyl-umbelliferyl-β-d-glucuronide (MUG) and was determined to be one to two orders of magnitude higher than the GusA3-negative parent, NCK1909. The successful chromosomal integration and expression of GusA3 demonstrate the potential of this method for higher levels of inducible gene expression in L. acidophilus.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Sanders M. E., and Klaenhammer T. R. (2001) Invited review: the scientific basis of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM functionality as a probiotic. J. Dairy Sci. 84, 319–331.
Altermann E., Russell W. M., Azcarate-Peril M. A., Barrangou R., Buck B. L., McAuliffe O., Souther N., Dobson A., Duong T., Callanan M., Lick S., Hamrick A., Cano R., and Klaenhammer T. R. (2005) Complete genome sequence of the probiotic lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102, 3906–3912.
Wells J. M., and Mercenier A. (2008) Mucosal delivery of therapeutic and prophylactic molecules using lactic acid bacteria. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 6, 349–362.
Russell W. M., and Klaenhammer T. R. (2001) Efficient system for directed integration into the Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus gasseri chromosomes via homologous recombination. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67, 4361–4364.
Goh Y. J., Azcarate-Peril M. A., O’Flaherty S., Durmaz E., Valence F., Jardin J., Lortal S., and Klaenhammer T. R. (2009) Development and application of a upp-based counterselective gene replacement system for the study of the S-layer protein SlpX of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75, 3093–3105.
Maguin E., Duwat P., Hege T., Ehrlich D., and Gruss A. (1992) New thermosensitive plasmid for gram-positive bacteria. J. Bacteriol. 174, 5633–5638.
Duong T., Miller M. J., Barrangou R., Azcarate-Peril M. A., and Klaenhammer T. R. (2011) Construction of vectors for inducible and constitutive gene expression in Lactobacillus, Microbial Biotechnology. 4, 357–367.
Law J., Buist G., Haandrikman A., Kok J., Venema G., and Leenhouts K. (1995) A system to generate chromosomal mutations in Lactococcus lactis which allows fast analysis of targeted genes. J. Bacteriol. 177, 7011–7018.
Hanahan D. (1985) Techniques for transformation of E. coli, in DNA cloning: a practical approach (Glover, D. M., Ed.), pp 109–135, IRL Press Ltd., Oxford, England.
Luchansky J. B., Kleeman E. G., Raya R. R., and Klaenhammer T. R. (1989) Genetic transfer systems for delivery of plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid to Lactobacillus acidophilus ADH: conjugation, electroporation, and transduction. J. Dairy Sci. 72, 1408–1417.
Wei M.Q., Rush C. M., Norman J. M., Hafner L. M., Epping R. J., and Timms P. (1995) An improved method for the transformation of Lactobacillus strains using electroporation. J. Microbiol. Methods 21, 97–109.
Walker D. C., Aoyama K., and Klaenhammer T. R. (1996) Electrotransformation of Lactobacillus acidophilus group A1. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 138, 233–237.
Kimmel S. A., and Roberts R. F. (1998) Development of a growth medium suitable for exopolysaccharide production by Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus RR. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 40, 87–92.
Sambrook J., Fritsch E. F., and Maniatis T. (1989) Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, Vol. 1, 2 ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York.
Russell W. M., and Klaenhammer T. R. (2001) Identification and cloning of gusA, encoding a new beta-glucuronidase from Lactobacillus gasseri ADH. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67, 1253–1261.
Barrangou R., Altermann E., Hutkins R., Cano R., and Klaenhammer T. R. (2003) Functional and comparative genomic analyses of an operon involved in fructooligosaccharide utilization by Lactobacillus acidophilus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100, 8957–8962.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part by the North Carolina Dairy Foundation and Danisco USA, Inc. (Madison, WI). GD was supported by an NIH-Molecular Biotechnology Training Fellowship, and an IFT Graduate Scholarship. We are grateful to S. O’Flaherty, R. Sanozky-Dawes, E. Pfeiler, E. Durmaz, and J. Schroeter for comments and insightful discussions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Douglas, G.L., Goh, Y.J., Klaenhammer, T.R. (2011). Integrative Food Grade Expression System for Lactic Acid Bacteria. In: Williams, J. (eds) Strain Engineering. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 765. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-197-0_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-197-0_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-196-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-197-0
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols