title: Use of the Escherichia coli lac repressor and operator to control gene expression in Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: The Escherichia coli lac operator has been placed on the 3' side of the promoter for the penicillinase gene of Bacillus licheniformis, creating a hybrid promoter controllable by the E. coli lac repressor. The E. coli lac repressor gene has been placed under the control of a promoter and ribosome-binding site that allows expression in Bacillus subtilis. When the penicillinase gene that contains the lac operator is expressed in B. subtilis on a plasmid that also produces the lac repressor, the expression of the penicillinase gene can be modulated by isopropyl beta-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG), an inducer of the lac operon in E. coli. A similar system was constructed from a promoter of the B. subtilis phage SPO-1 and the leukocyte interferon A gene, which allowed the controlled expression of interferon in B. subtilis. These two examples show that a functional control system can be introduced into B. subtilis from E. coli.
mesh_terms: D001407:Bacillus / Q000235:genetics; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics*; D004274:DNA, Recombinant; D004790:Enzyme Induction; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000235:genetics; D009876:Operon; D010405:Penicillinase / Q000235:genetics; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004274:DNA, Recombinant; D007370:Interferon Type I; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D010405:Penicillinase