title: Non-functional expression of Escherichia coli signal peptidase I in Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: The Escherichia coli lep gene, encoding signal peptidase I (SPase I) was provided with Bacillus subtilis transcription/translation signals and expressed in this organism. When present on a low-copy-number plasmid, the amount of E. coli SPase I produced (per mg cell protein) in B. subtilis was half that produced in wild-type E. coli cells. The production of E. coli SPase I in B. subtilis was increased approximately fivefold by cloning the lep gene into a high-copy-number plasmid. The expression of E. coli SPase I in B. subtilis did not appear to increase the rate of processing of two hybrid secretory precursor proteins. Two observations may explain the failure of E. coli SPase I to stimulate processing of exported proteins in B. subtilis. First, the E. coli SPase I was apparently not exposed on the outside of the B. subtilis cytoplasmic membrane, indicating its incorrect insertion into the membrane. Second, in vitro processing studies, using cell-free extracts of B. subtilis producing E. coli SPase I, suggested that the enzyme was not active. A further outcome of this study was that conditions favouring processing of precursors by SPase I in cell-free extracts of E. coli did not favour processing by the corresponding enzyme in B. subtilis cell-free extracts. This suggests that significant differences exist between the two enzymes. The observation that antibodies directed against E. coli SPase I did not cross-react with B. subtilis membrane proteins supports this idea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Centre of Biological Sciences, Haren (Gn), The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: van Dijl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bron
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Venema
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D007700:Kinetics; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D010450:Endopeptidases; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; C026515:type I signal peptidase