A gene coding a protein having a lipase activity and a process for producing the same

Abstract: Object of the invention: A protein having a lipase activity originated from a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus and having a high value of commercial utilization. Constitutions of the invention: A gene coding a protein having a lipase activity originated from a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus; a recombinant DNA which is replicative inside the bacterium of Pseudomonas genus containing the gene; and a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus containing the recombinant DNA. Effectiveness: The transformed strain obtained in the present invention produced a protein having a lipase activity, by way of secretory production outside bacterial cells which is effective for a large quantity production.

Description: This invention relates to a gene coding a protein having a lipase activity originated from a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus, a recombinant DNA containing the gene, a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus containing the DNA and a process for producing a protein having a lipase activity, characterized by secretory production outside bacterial cells. Lipases have been used as a lipid-hydrolyzing enzyme, for oil and fat processing, clinical diagnostic medicine, detergent, digestant, etc., and further, in recent years, lipases have been an important enzyme for catalyzing ester hydrolysis, ester synthesis or transesterificaton, as processes for producing chemical products, particularly, optically active compounds. Further, it has been known that bacteria of Pseudomonas genus produce a lipase useful as a catalyst for ester hydrolysis, ester synthesis or transesterification (see JP 62-166898). EP-A-318 775 discloses a DNA arrangement coding a lipase originated from Pseudomonas genus bacterium, a recombinant DNA replicable inside Escherichia coli encoding said lipase, Escherichia coli transformed by a recombinant DNA encoding said lipase and a process for producing said lipase. EP-A-0 451 452 discloses a recombinant plasmid for lipase expression comprising (i) a vector of a multicopy type replicative inside Escherichia coli, (ii) a fused promoter (tac promoter) of a promoter of Escherichia coli tryptophan operon with a promoter of Escherichia coli lactose operon and (iii) a DNA sequence coding a lipase originated from Pneudomonas fragi IFO 12049 strain under the rule of said fused promoter. Furthermore, EP-A-0 451 452 discloses an Escherichia coli strain transformed with the respective recombinant plasmid and a process for producing a lipase which comprises the use of said Escherichia coli strain. In order to commercially utilize a lipase originated from bacterium of Pseudomonas genus and provided with such characteristics, production of an enzyme in a large quantity has been desired. Further, for its production on a commercial scale, secretory production of the enzyme into the culture solution has been regarded as effective in view of the advantages of continuous cultivation, easiness in the enzyme recovery, etc. In recent years, application of gene manipulation technique has been introduced into production of useful proteins in a large quantity, and this has also been applied also to lipases of bacteria of Pseudomonas genus. However, in spite of such attempts, an efficient secretory production system of lipases into the culture solution has not yet been completed, and problems have been raised in respect of commercial utilization. For example, when Escherichia coli is used as a host bacterium, recovery of the produced lipase has been carried out from the inside of the bacterial cells (JP 62-188072 and JP 62-228279 and JP 1-7757). In such a case of production inside the bacterial cells, the recovery of the produced substance requires a bacterium-breaking step such as supersonic treatment and a number of purification steps for removing impurities originated from host bacterium. Thus, such processes have been regarded as disadvantageous, in the aspect of production of such a substance. Further, when Pseudomonas bacterium is used as a host bacterium, recovery of lipase has been carried out from the inside of the culture solution which is advantageous for commercial utilization (JP 63-300386 and JP 1-338250). However, in such cases, cultivation has been carried out e.g. for 3 days for the production. Thus, such production cannot always be regarded as efficient. In solving the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors considered that when a strain producing a protein having a lipase activity originated from Pseudomonas genus bacterium, in a high extent secretion, is created according to a gene recobminant technique, it might be possible to produce the lipase on a commercial scale, and have made extensive research. As a result, it was found that when a DNA fragment containing a gene coding a protein having a lipase activity is isolated from a chromosome DNA of Pseudomonas genus bacterium, to obtain a recombinant DNA having the DNA fragment, then Pseudomonas genus bacterium transformed by the recombinant DNA secretorily produces a notably large quantity of a protein having a lipase activity in the culture solution, and have completed the present invention. Namely, the object of the present invention is to provide a DNA fragment containing a gene coding a protein having a lipase activity originated from a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus, a recombinant DNA having the above DNA fragment, a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus suitable to efficient secretory production of a protein transformed by the above recombinant DNA and having a lipase activity, and a process for producing a protein having a lipase activity, using the above bacterium. The present invention has the following constitutions: (1) A gene coding a protein having a lipase activity originated from a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus, characterized by having the following base sequence: (2) A gene according to item (1) wherein said bacterium of Pseudomonas genus is Pseuodmonas fragi IFO 120 49 strain. (3) A recombinant DNA capable of being replicated in a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus and containing the gene of items 1 and 2, incorporated into a broad host range vector of Gram-negative bacteria. (4) A bacterium of Pseudomonas genus transformed by a recombinant DNA according to item (3). (5) A process for producing a protein having a lipase activity, which process comprises cultivating a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus transformed by a recombinant DNA according to item (4), to thereby produce a protein having a lipase activity in the culture medium, and recovering this protein from the culture medium. Fig. 1 shows an example of a restriction enzyme map of Eco RI 3.7 Kb fragment having a plasmid pCCB inserted thereinto and the results of a deletion experiment wherein the presence or absence of clear zone formation is made an indication. The symbol (+) shows a clear zone formation. Fig. 2 shows a construction figure of the expression plasmid pUC-RSFKmCCB of a protein having a lipase activity. The present invention will be described in more detail. 1 ○ Cloning of a gene coding a protein having a lipase activity: The chromosome DNA of Pseudomonas fragi IFO 12049 strain can be prepared for exmaple according to Smith's method (Smith, M.G., Methods in Enzymology, Academic press, New York, 12, part A, p. 545, (1967)). Incorporation of a chromosome DNA into a vector DNA can be carried out by digesting the chromosome DNA and the vector DNA with a restriction enzyme, followed by mixing the two and treating the mixture with a DNA lipase. Examples of the restriction enzyme are EcoRI, BamHI, Sau3AI. As the vector DNA, known ones such as pUC9, λgt10, Charomid DNA are utilizable. The thus obtained recombinant DNA can transform Escherichia coli according to a known method such as CaCℓ 2 method, in vitro packaging method, etc. Choice of a transformed strain having a lipase activity is carried out by isolating a strain forming a clear zone accompanying the hydrolysis of tributyrin on a tributyrin-agar medium. A recombinant DNA containing a gene coding a protein having a lipase activity can be obtained from the above obtained transformed strain, according to a known technique such as alkali method. Next, the region necessary for the expression of the protein having a lipase activity in the transformed bacterium can be determined by subcloning the above recombinant DNA using various restriction enzymes, and observing the clear zone-formability of such transformed strain on the tributyrin-agar medium. Further, the gene coding the protein having a lipase activity and the base sequence in the region necessary for the expression can be determined according to a known technique such as dideoxy method (Sanger.F., et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 74 , 5463 (1977)). 2 ○Production of the protein having a lipase activity: When a DNA fragment containing a gene coding the protein obtained in the above manner is introduced into a plasmid vector which is replicative inside the bacterium of Pseudomonas genus, according to a known conjunction-transmission method or the like, it is possible to construct a recombinant DNA for lipase expression. As such a plasmid vector, for example, a broad range host vector RSF1010, those obtained by introducing a suitable selective marker such as kanamycin-resistant gene into RSF1010 are usable. Further, by cultivating a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus transformed by the recombinant DNA obtained in the above manner, under optimum conditions for enzyme production, a protein having a lipase activity is produced. Further, by measuring the lipase activity in the culture solution, it is possible to obtain an optimum host bacterium of Pseudomonas genus for secretorily expressing a protein having a lipase activity. As the thus obtained bacterium of Pseudomonas genus, for example, Pseudomonas putida AC10 strain and the like are usable. Further, the measurement of lipase activity can be carried out using a commercially available, lipase activity-measuring kit, or the like. Pseudomonas putida AC10 strain having a recombinant DNA obtained according to the present invention introduced thereinto is cultivated under optimum conditions for enzyme production, and a protein having a lipase activity is separated from the culture medium and purified. The present invention will be described in more detail by way of Example. Examples (1) Preparation of chromosome DNA: Pseudomonas fragi IFO 12049 strain was cultivated in an LB medium (1% bactotripton, 0.5% yeast extract and 0.5% NaCℓ), at 30°C overnight. The bacterial cells were collected, followed by washing and suspending the cells in a solution of 50 mM Tris-Hcℓ buffer (pH 8.0) and 10 mM EDTA (12 mℓ). Lysozyme (1 mg) was added to the resulting suspension, followed by allowing the mixture to stand at room temperature for one hour, adding to the resulting solution, Protenase K (trademark of product made by Merck Co., Ltd.) so as to give a concentration of 100 µg/mℓ, in the presence of 0.5% SDS, slowly shaking the mixture at 55°C for 3 hours, extracting this resulting sample with phenol and precipitating it with ethanol to prepare chromosome DNA. (2) Cloning of a gene coding a protein having a lipase activity and analysis of the gene: The thus prepared chromosome DNA was digested with a restriction enzyme EcoRI, followed by subjecting the resulting substance to electrophoresis in an agarose gel to recover fragments of 2 to 4 Kb, linking the recovered DNA fragment to EcoRI site of Charomid 9-42 (trademark of product made by Nippon Gene Co., Ltd.) with a DNA lipase, and infecting the linked DNA in the form of phage with Escherichia coli VCS 257 using λDNA in vitro packaging kit (Gigapack IIPLUS (tradename of product made by STRATAGENE Co., Ltd.)) to effect transduction. The resulting transformed strain was subjected to plating on an LB medium containing ampicillin (50 µg/mℓ) and 1% tributyrin, at 37°C for 24 hours to obtain two clear zone-forming strains from among about 1,100 transformed strains, extracting a plasmid from the above two clear zone-forming strains, digesting EcoRI, analyzing inserted DNA fragments by agarose gel electrophoresis to confirm that both the strains contained about 3.7 Kb EcoRI fragment, and subcloning the 3.7 Kb EcoRI DNA fragment at the EcoRI site of pTV 119 N (made by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), to prepare a plasmid pCCB. Fig. 1 shows a restriction enzyme map of 3.7 Kb DNA fragments having EcoRI inserted at pCCB. Next, the 3.7 Kb EcoRI fragments of the plasmid pCCB were broken by various kinds of restriction enzymes, followed by subcloning the respective fragments at pTV 119N to transformm Escherichia coli MV 1184 strain, and observing the presence or absence of clear zone formation on the tributyrin-containing LB medium, in the same manner as above. As a result, a clear zone formation was observed in Escherichia coli having a plasmid pCCB-XS having EcoRI-XhoI 2.1 Kb fragment, as shown in Fig. 1. As a result, it was suggested that a gene coding a protein having a lipase activity and a region necessary for its expression were present in EcoRI-XhoI 2.1 Kb fragment. (3) Determination of base sequence: The base sequence of inserted EcoRI 3.7 Kb DNA fragment of the plasmid pCCB was determined according to dideoxy method (F. Sanger et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 74, 5463 (1977)). As a result, an open reading frame was present within a region shown by an arrow mark (→) in Fig. 1. The base sequence of the gene and the corresponding amino acid sequence table are shown at the end of this section. (4) Production of a protein having a lipase activity: An expression plasmid pUC-RSFKmCCB was constructed according to the steps shown in Fig. 2. To 5.9 Kb fragment obtained by digesting PstI and PvuII of a broad range host vector RSF1010 was linked 2.7 Kb fragment obtained by digesting PstI and SmaI of pUC19 to obtain a plasmid pUC-RSF, followed by introducing into PstI site of this plasmid, 1.3 Kb fragment of PstI containing a kanamycin-resistant gene, and introducing into the EcoRI site of the resulting plasmid, pUC-RSFkm, EcoRI 3.7 Kb fragment of pCCB, to construct the expression plasmid pUC-RSFKmCCB. This plasmid pUC-RSFKmCCB was introduced into Pseudomonas putida AC10 strain, according to Simon et al's conjugation method (R. Simon et al, Biotechnology, 1.784 (1983)). This Pseudomonas putida AC10 (pUC-RSFKmCCB) strain was cultivated on an LB medium containing ampicillin and kanamycin (each, 50 µg/mℓ), at 30°C overnight. The lipase activity of the filtrate of the culture medium was measured using Lipase Kit S (tradename of product made by Dainippon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) to give 268 BALB unit per 100 µℓ of the filtrate. The results of measurements of Pseudomonas fragi IFO 12049 strain and Pseudomonas putida AC 10 strain, carried out under the same conditions were both, values lower than the lower limit of the measurement sensitivity (50 BALB unit) per 100 µℓ of the filtrate. In addition, the measurement method and the calculation method of measurement unit were carried out according to the method of Lipase Kit S. In the above Example, plasmid preparation from bacterial cells, the reaction using restriction enzymes, etc. and treatment of DNA fragment were carried out in a conventional manner unless otherwise indicated. In addition, as to the restriction enzymes, DNA ligase, etc., those prepared by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd. and Japan Gene Co., Ltd. were used. SEQUENCE LISTING GENERAL INFORMATION APPLICANT: NAME: CHISSO CORPORATION STREET: 6-32, NAKANOSHIMA 3-CHOME, KITAKU CITY: OSAKA COUNTRY: JAPAN TITLE OF INVENTION: A GENE CODING A PROTEIN HAVING A LIPASE ACTIVITY AND A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 1 COMPUTER READABLE FORM: MEDIUM TYPE: DISKETTE COMPUTER/OPERATING SYSTEM: PC-9801/NEC SOFTWARE: WORDPERFECT INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO. 1: SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: LENGTH OF SEQUENCE: 1,626 TYPE OF SEQUENCE: NUCLEIC ACID NUMBER OF CHAIN: TWO TOPOLOGY: LINEAR CHAIN KIND OF SEQUENCE: GENOMIC DNA HYPOTHETICAL: YES ORIGIN NAME OF LIVING: PSEUDOMONAS FRAGI NAME OF STRAIN: IFO 12049

Claims: A gene coding a protein having a lipase activity originated from a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus, characterized by having the following base sequence: A gene according to claim 1 wherein said bacterium of Pseudomonas genus is Pseuodmonas fragi IFO 120 49 strain. A recombinant DNA capable of being replicated in a bacterium of Pseudomonas genus and containing the gene of claims 1 or 2 incorporated into a broad host range vector of Gram-negative bacteria. A bacterium of Pseudomonas genus transformed by a recombinant DNA according to claim 3. A process for producing a protein having a lipase activity, which process comprises cultivating a bacterium according to claim 4, to thereby produce a protein having a lipase activity in the culture medium, and recovering this protein from the culture medium.

Inventors: AOYAMA SHIGEYUKI, YOSHIDA NAOYUKI, AOYAMA, SHIGEYUKI, YOSHIDA, NAOYUKI
Applicants: CHISSO CORP, CHISSO CORPORATION
Application year: 1993
Main classification: C12N15
IPC codes: C12N9, C12N1, C12N15, C12R1