Parasitic nematodes that cause elephantiasis and river blindness threaten hundreds of millions of people in the developing world. We have sequenced the ∼90 megabase (Mb) genome of the human filarial parasite Brugia malayi and predict ∼11,500 protein coding genes in 71 Mb of robustly assembled sequence. Comparative analysis with the free-living, model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans revealed that, despite these genes having maintained little conservation of local synteny during ∼350 million years of evolution, they largely remain in linkage on chromosomal units. More than 100 conserved operons were identified. Analysis of the predicted proteome provides evidence for adaptations of B. malayi to niches in its human and vector hosts and insights into the molecular basis of a mutualistic relationship with its Wolbachia endosymbiont. These findings offer a foundation for rational drug design.

Draft genome of the filarial nematode parasite Brugia malayi (Science (2007) (1756))

/pdf/a-short-course-in-bacterial-genetics-a-laboratory-manual-and-1fwnl84s56.pdf

A Short Course in Bacterial Genetics: A Laboratory Manual and Handbook for Escherichia coli and Related Bacteria . By Jeffrey H. Miller. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. 1992. 876 pages. Price $95.00. ISBN 0 87969 349 5.

The continuous flow synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients, value-added chemicals, and materials has grown tremendously over the past ten years. This revolution in chemical manufacturing has resulted from innovations in both new methodology and technology. This field, however, has been predominantly focused on synthetic organic chemistry, and the use of biocatalysts in continuous flow systems is only now becoming popular. Although immobilized enzymes and whole cells in batch systems are common, their continuous flow counterparts have grown rapidly over the past two years. With continuous flow systems offering improved mixing, mass transfer, thermal control, pressurized processing, decreased variation, automation, process analytical technology, and in-line purification, the combination of biocatalysis and flow chemistry opens powerful new process windows. This Review explores continuous flow biocatalysts with emphasis on new technology, enzymes, whole cells, co-factor recycling, and immobilization methods for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, value-added chemicals, and materials.

/pdf/continuous-flow-biocatalysis-4ydtviifqr.pdf

Continuous flow biocatalysis.

His-tag affinity purification is one of the most commonly used methods to purify recombinant proteins expressed in E. coli. One drawback of using the His-tag is the co-purification of contaminating histidine-rich E. coli proteins. We engineered a new E. coli expression strain, LOBSTR (low background strain), which eliminates the most abundant contaminants. LOBSTR is derived from the E. coli BL21(DE3) strain and carries genomically modified copies of arnA and slyD, whose protein products exhibit reduced affinities to Ni and Co resins, resulting in a much higher purity of the target protein. The use of LOBSTR enables the pursuit of challenging low-expressing protein targets by reducing background contamination with no additional purification steps, materials, or costs, and thus pushes the limits of standard His-tag purifications.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/prot.24364

Optimized E. coli expression strain LOBSTR eliminates common contaminants from His-tag purification

His-tag affinity purification is one of the most commonly used methods to purify recombinant proteins expressed in E. coli. One drawback of using the His-tag is the co-purification of contaminating histidine-rich E. coli proteins. We engineered a new E. coli expression strain, LOBSTR (low background strain), which eliminates the most abundant contaminants. LOBSTR is derived from the E. coli BL21(DE3) strain and carries genomically modified copies of arnA and slyD, whose protein products exhibit reduced affinities to Ni and Co resins, resulting in a much higher purity of the target protein. The use of LOBSTR enables the pursuit of challenging lowexpressing protein targets by reducing background contamination with no additional purification steps, materials, or costs, and thus pushes the limits of standard His-tag purifications.

Optimized E.coli expression strain LOBSTR eliminates common contaminants from His-tag purification

Parasitic nematodes are responsible for devastating illnesses that plague many of the world's poorest populations indigenous to the tropical areas of developing nations. Among these diseases is lymphatic filariasis, a major cause of permanent and long-term disability. Proteins essential to nematodes that do not have mammalian counterparts represent targets for therapeutic inhibitor discovery. One promising target is trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (T6PP) from Brugia malayi. In the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, T6PP is essential for survival due to the toxic effect(s) of the accumulation of trehalose 6-phosphate. T6PP has also been shown to be essential in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We determined the X-ray crystal structure of T6PP from B. malayi. The protein structure revealed a stabilizing N-terminal MIT-like domain and a catalytic C-terminal C2B-type HAD phosphatase fold. Structure-guided mutagenesis, combined with kinetic analyses using a designed competitive inhibitor, trehalose 6-sulfate, identified five residues important for binding and catalysis. This structure-function analysis along with computational mapping provided the basis for the proposed model of the T6PP-trehalose 6-phosphate complex. The model indicates a substrate-binding mode wherein shape complementarity and van der Waals interactions drive recognition. The mode of binding is in sharp contrast to the homolog sucrose-6-phosphate phosphatase where extensive hydrogen-bond interactions are made to the substrate. Together these results suggest that high-affinity inhibitors will be bi-dentate, taking advantage of substrate-like binding to the phosphoryl-binding pocket while simultaneously utilizing non-native binding to the trehalose pocket. The conservation of the key residues that enforce the shape of the substrate pocket in T6PP enzymes suggest that development of broad-range anthelmintic and antibacterial therapeutics employing this platform may be possible.

/pdf/structure-of-the-trehalose-6-phosphate-phosphatase-from-iqjet4rlka.pdf

Structure of the trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase from Brugia malayi reveals key design principles for anthelmintic drugs.

The yeast Kluyveromyces lactis is an important host for the expression of recombinant proteins at both laboratory and industrial scales. However, the system lacks a tightly regulated promoter that permits controlled expression of heterologous proteins. In this study, we report the engineering of a highly regulated strong hybrid promoter (termed P350) for use in K. lactis. P350 is tightly repressed by glucose or glycerol in the medium but strongly promotes gene expression once the carbon source has been consumed by the cells. This feature permits heterologous protein expression to be “autoinduced” at any scale without the addition of a gratuitous inducer molecule or changing feed solutions.

https://aem.asm.org/content/aem/early/2019/04/29/AEM.00542-19.full.pdf

A Novel Regulated Hybrid Promoter That Permits Autoinduction of Heterologous Protein Expression in Kluyveromyces lactis.

Disulfide-Bonded Protein Production in E. coli

Recombinant His-tagged proteins expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) are commonly coeluted with native E. coli proteins, especially if the recombinant protein is expressed at a low level. The E. coli contaminants display high affinity to divalent nickel or cobalt ions, mainly due to the presence of clustered histidine residues or biologically relevant metal binding sites. To improve the final purity of expressed His-tagged protein, we engineered E. coli BL21(DE3) expression strains in which the most recurring contaminants are either expressed with an alternative tag or mutated to decrease their affinity to divalent cations. The current study presents the design, engineering, and characterization of two E. coli BL21(DE3) derivatives, NiCo21(DE3) and NiCo22(DE3), which express the endogenous proteins SlyD, Can, ArnA, and (optionally) AceE fused at their C terminus to a chitin binding domain (CBD) and the protein GlmS, with six surface histidines replaced by alanines. We show that each E. coli CBD-tagged protein remains active and can be efficiently eliminated from an IMAC elution fraction using a chitin column flowthrough step, while the modification of GlmS results in loss of affinity for nickel-containing resin. The "NiCo" strains uniquely complement existing methods for improving the purity of recombinant His-tagged protein.

/pdf/engineering-escherichia-coli-bl21-de3-derivative-strains-to-4az908ucab.pdf

Engineering Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) Derivative Strains To Minimize E. coli Protein Contamination after Purification by Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography

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Structure of the trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase from Brugia malayi reveals key design principles for anthelmintic drugs.

A Novel Regulated Hybrid Promoter That Permits Autoinduction of Heterologous Protein Expression in Kluyveromyces lactis.

Disulfide-Bonded Protein Production in E. coli

Engineering Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) Derivative Strains To Minimize E. coli Protein Contamination after Purification by Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography