title: Cloning and overexpression of a tyrosinase gene mel from Pseudomonas maltophila.
abstract: The tyrosinase gene (mel), which is responsible for melanin formation, was isolated by shotgun cloning of SalI fragments of Pseudomonas maltophila DNA. A 0.7-kb SalI fragment in the recombinant plasmid pWSY8 imparted the ability to synthesize melanin to an Escherichia coli host HB101. The nucleotide sequence of this DNA fragment revealed an open reading frame of 504 bp, encoding a protein of 169 amino acids. The fragment containing the mel gene was then cloned into an expression plasmid pPAS1 under the control of a promoter isolated from the host, P. maltophilia AT18. This strain increased the melanin production by 70.6% compared with the strain HB101/pWSY8, in which the cloned mel gene was under the control of the lac promoter from the vector pUC18.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China. wang01@utsw.swmed.edu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aazaz
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003470:Culture Media; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008543:Melanins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D008543:Melanins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase