Oene, 93 (1990) 41-47 Elsevier

41

G E N E 03592

An improved p-galaetosidase et-eomplementation system for molecular cloning in B a c i l l u s subtilis (Recombinant DNA; translation efficiency; chromosomal integration; lacZ gene; structural plasmid stability)

Peter Haima', Uouwe van Sinderen % Sierd Bronb and Gerard Venemab ° Department ofMicrobiology,and b Department of Genetics,Center ofBiologicalSciences,gedclaan 30. NL-9751 NNHaven (The Net&edands) Received by R,E, Yasbin: 5 December 1989 Revised: 26 January 1990 Accepted: 12 February 1990

SUMMARY

The recently described/~-galactosidase ~-complementation system for molecular cloning in Bacillus subtilis [Haima et al., Gene 86 (1990) 63-69] was optimized in several ways. First, the efficiencyof translation ofthe lacZAM ! 5 gene was improved. Second, the plasmid-borne lacZdM 15 gene was segregationally stabilized by integration into the B. subtilis chromosome. Third, a new lacZ~ complementing cloning vector was constructed, containing more unique target sites. It was shown that large heterologous DNA fragments (up to at least 29 kb) could be cloned with lacZ~-complementing vectors carrying the replication functions of the cryptic B. subtilis plasmid pTAI060, and that these inserts were structurally stably maintained for at least 100 generations of growth.

INTRODUCTION

Since natural plasmids in Bacillus subtilis are usually cryptic, molecular cloning in this organism has mainly been carried out with high-copy-number plasmids from Staphylococcus aureus, such as pC194 (Cma), pE194 (Er a) and pUB 110 (KmR). Although vectors based on such plasmids have successfully been used in some cases, frequently obCorrespondence to: Dr. S. Bron, Department of Genetics, Center of

Biological Sciences, Kerklaan 30, NL-9751 NN Haren (The Netherlands) Tel. (050) 632105; Fax (050) 632348. Abbreviations: aa, amino acid(s); Ap, ampicillin; B., Bacillus; pGd, ,B-gdactosidase; bp, base pair(s); CAT, Cm acetyitransferase; cat, gene encoding CAT; Cut, chloramphenicoi; A, deletion; ds, double strand(ed); DTr, dithiothreitoi; Er, erythromycin; Kin, kanamycin; kb, kilobase(s) or 1000 bp; lacZ, gene encoding pGal; MCS, multiple cloning site; nt, nudeotide(s); oligo, oligodeoxyribonudeotide; or/, origin of DNA replication; P, promoter; Polik, Klenow (large) fragment of E. coil DNA polymerase I; a resistant/resistance; rep, primary replication functions; ss, single strand(ed); TY, see Table I, footnote a; u, units; XGal, 5-bromo-4chloro-3-indolyl-p-D-galactopyranoside; ::, novel joint (fusion); [], denotes plasmid-carrier state. 0378-11191901503.50 © 1990Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.(Biomedical Division)

served problems are structural and segregational instability (Ehrlich et al., 1986; Bron et al., 1985; 1988), and low efficiencies obtained in random cloning of foreign DNA. The latter is manifested in low numbers of clones and limited sizes of the DNA inserts (Michel et al., 1980; Gryczan et al., 1982; Janni~re et al., 1990). Recently, it was postulated that the inferior cloning properties of the staphylococcal plasmids might be a consequence of their mode of replication (Janni~re et al., 1990); all these plasraids appear to replicate via ssDNA intermediates, probably by rolling-circle replication (for a review, see Gruss and Ehrlich, 1989). Plasmids based on the ssDNA-generating replicon pC194 appeared to be structurally unstable and showed inferior cloning properties as compared to plasmids which replicate without generating ssDNA, like pAM/~t (Janni~re et al., 1990). We recently described cloning vectors based on the B. subtilis low-copy-number plasmid pTAI060 (Uozumi et al., 1980), which showed important advantages in comparison to the commonly used staphylococcal plasmids (Bron et al., 1987; Haima et al., 1987). First, it was shown that the segregational stability of pTAl060-derived repli-

42 pTAl060-derived vectors by developing a/~Gal =-complementation cloning system for B. subtilis (Haima etal., 1990). This system was based on two unrelated compatible plasmids. The host contained the pWVOl-based (Kok etal., 1984) plasmid pGHSI, which carries the constitutively expressed lacZAMl5 gone. The cloning vector was the pTAl060-based plasmid pHPS9, which carries a constitutively expressed translational fusion of the Bacillus

cons was hardly affected by plasmid size (Bron et at., 1987). In contrast, the $. aureus plasmid p U B 110 showed sizedependent effects on copy numbers (Bron et at., 1985; 1988) resulting in dramatic levels of segregational instability. Second, pTAl060-derived vectors showed superior cloning efficiencies as compared to the staphylococcal plasmids (Haima etal., 1987). In a follow-up study we extended the applicability of the

PSP02 E~~ p23 (pKuue) •

:TTATA UmA ACTT II ATa ACt ', UamUATTCT II ACC NheI

' I(mR

ATo OATTeACTo An AOG TCA

t

" t

P23

toeZAII15

~x

GTCtool GTCmG'.

(l~usu)

(V¢,us)

Hind~ (pKBU5)

/

"/.2 29.1 16.8

AAA

Rababab

~x

pKBU4 11.0kb wl . pSCt0t

(Fig, i)

~

" PstI

Fig. 1. Structure of plasmids pKBU4, pKBU$, pKBUSM, pKBU6 and pKBUT. Large scale and mini preparations of plasmid DNA were obtained essentially as described by lsh-Horowicz and Burke (1981). DNA techniques were as described by Maniatis et at, (1982). The dideoxy-¢haln termination method was used for DNA sequencing (Sanger et at,, 1977~ Plasmid pKBU$ was constructed by insertion of the Nhel.Hindlll fragment from pGHSl (both sides were filled in with Pollk), containing the KmR Bane and the lacZdMlS gene, into the filled.in Bglll site of pKBU4 (Table i), The £. colt MCI000[pUC9] transformants carrying pKBU5 were selected on Km+ Ap + XGal plates. To construct pKBU6 and pKBU7, the small EcoRI.Bgll fragment from pKBU$, containing the -20 to + 33 region of the lacZAMlS Bane and promoter P2J, was replaced by a synthetic ds oligo fragment of 110 bp, The two complementary strands of this fragment were initially synthesized as four separate oligos of 54, 56° 60 and 43 nt long, in such a way that alter annealing the overlaps on the opposite strands were at least 10 nt long. The oligos of the coding strand were: 5'-dAATTCGTTAACAGATCTTATAAAGGAGGATTCACTTATGACTATGATAACAGAT and 5'-dTCACTAGCAGTC~3TAGCCC(3CACCGATCGCCCTTCCCAACAGTTGCGCAGCCTGAA, and those of the complementary strand: 5'-dCTGCTAGTGAATCTGTTATCATAGTCATAAGTG. AATCCTCCTITATAAGATCTGTTAACG and 5'-dAGGCTGCGCAACTGTTGGGAAGGGCGATCGGTGC'~3GGCTACGA. The oligos were phosphorylated (360 pmol of each) for 1.5 h at 20°C using ! u of T4 polynucleotide kinase in 60 mM Tris. HC! (pH 7.5)/10 mM MgCl2/10mM DTr/I mM ATP in vols. of 20 pl, For annealing, the phosphorylated oligos were combined in 44.4 ttl of 150 mM KCI, heated for S rain at 98=C and slowly allowed to cool to room temperature. One/~! of the annealing mixture was iigated to EcoRl + Bg/l-cleaved MI3mpl9 DNA (0.1 pmol) and the ligation mixture was used to transform £, coltJM 101 competent cells with selection on XGal plates. The EcoRI.Bgll fragment from the double-stranded replicative form DNA of a recombinant phage carrying the correct fragment (as confirmed by sequence analysis) was used to replace the corresponding fragment of pKBUS, containing promoter P23 and the first 73 bp of the lacZdMl5 sane. Since the synthetic oligo fragment lacked a promoter, the lacZdM 15 gene was not expressed in the resulting plasmid, denoted as pKBUSM. Plasmid pKBU6 was constructed by reinserting the strong lactococcal promoter 1'23, as a Sau3A fragment from pGKV223, in the Bglll site of pKBUSM, Plasmid pKBU7 was constructed by inserting the 280-bp EcoR! fragment from pGKVl 1, containing the B. subtOb phage SPO2 promoter, into the EcoRI site of pKBUSM, The E. colt MCI000[pUC9] transformants containing pKBU6 or pKBU7 were selected on Km + Ap + XGal plates. The sequences ofthe -20 to + 33 regions ofpKBU5 and pKBUSM are shown in capital letters. Modifications in the coding region of the lacZdMI5 are indicated in lower-case letters; and Shine-Dalgarno sequences in boldface. The shaded bar in pKBU4 represents the 7.$-kb B. subttlis chromosomal DNA fragment. Fig. 2. Structural stability ofrecombinant pHPS9 plasmids. Cultures started from single colonies of B. subfl//s6GMI5 containing recombinant pHPS9 plasmids (phage Jt DNA inserts of 7.2, 16.8 and 29 kb), were grown overnight at 37°C in 10 mi of Cm-contalning TY medium. The cultures were diluted l0s- to 10S-foldin the same medium after everycycleof about approximately 20 generations until approximately 100generations ofgrowth, Plasmid DNAs extracted from the overnil0tt cultures at the start (a) and after 100 generations of growth (b) were analyzed by BamHl digestion and 0.8% agarose/EtdBr gel electrophoresis. Numbers "/.2,29.1 and 16.8 correspond to the total size of the DNA inserts (kb). Note that the 29.l-kb insert consists of two Ban=HI fragments of 16.8 and IZ3 kb, Ban=HI-cleaved ~. DNA served as reference markers (lane R; fragment sizes are indicated in kb on the leR margin).

43

pumilus cat-86 gene and the lacZ~ gene from plasmid pUC9. This cloning system offered: (1)the direct selection of recombinants; (2) the cloning of large heterologous DNA fragments with high efficiency; and (3) the availability ofsix unique target sites: Sphl, Ndel, Nhel, BamHl, Sinai and EcoRl. The aim of the present studies was to improve the/~Gal ~-complementation cloning system in two ways: to stably integrate the lacZAMl5 gene into the B. subtilb chromosome and to improve the efficiency of translation of this gene.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (a) Integration of the l a c Z A M I 5 gene into the Bacilhts subtilis c h r o m o s o m e A drawback of the previously described pGal ~-complementation system (Haima et al., 1989) was the segregational instability of the l a c Z d M l S - c a r r y i n g plasmid p G H S 1, which is based on the lactococcal plasmid pWVOI (Kok etal., 1984). Piasmid p G H S I appeared to be extremely unstable during competence development of B. subtilis, resulting in about 97 % plasmid-free cells at the state

TABLE I Strains and plasmids used in this study a Relevant properties

Source or reference

Strains B. subtilb 6GM 6GMI5

trpC2 tyr met hb ura rib r~ m~ IvpC2 tyr met hb ura rib r;a m~ IocZAMI5 Km R

Haima et ai. (1987) This work

£. coli MCI000 JMI01

F- araD 139A(araABC-leu)7679 galU galK lacX74 rpsL tM supE tki ~l(lac-proAB) [F' traD36 proA +B + IoclqZAMIS]

Weinstock et al. (1983) Laboratory collection

Bacteriophages Ml3mpl9

lacZoe

Norrander et al. (1983)

Plasmids pHSG$7$ pKBU4

Cm a, lacZa, derivative of pSCl01 Cma, derivative of pHSG575 carrying a 7.$-kb B. subtilb chromosomal fragment

J.A.K.W. Kiel, H, Boels and

pKBU$ pKBUSM pKBU6 pKBU7 pGHSI pLGSI pHPl3-2 pHPS9 pHPS 10 pGKHI pGKH2 pGKV259 pGKV259-2 pGKV223 pGKVI I pPCT2 pUC9

Cmn, Kmn, lacZdM 15, derivative of pKBU4 CmR, Kma, derivative of pKBU$ carrying a modified -20 to + 33 lacZAMI$ region Cma, Kma, derivative of pKBUSM carrying the modified lacZ~lMl$ gene preceded by the lactococcal promoter P2.~ Cma, Kma, derivative of pKBUSM carrying the modified iacgdMI5 8ene preceded by the B. subtilb phage SPO2 promoter Kmn,/ooZ~IMI$, derivative of pWVOI Kma,/acZAMI$, pSCI01 derivative Cma, ErR, pTAI060-pUC9 derivative Cma, Era, cat-86: :iacZa¢, pTAI060-pUC9 derivative Era, cat.86: :lacZo~, derivative of pHPl 3-2 Era, cat.86::lacZo~, pWVOI derivative Era, cat-86 :: lacZ~, derivative of pGK~-I1 Era, cat-86, pWVOI derivative Era, cat-86, derivative of pGKV259 lacking the Pstl and Sail sites Era, cat-86, pWVOI derivative Era, cat.86, pWVOi derivative Era, cat-86, pUBII0 derivative eo,',~ining the E. coli ::::BTtT2 terminators on an £coR! fragment Apa, pBR322 derivative

Takeshita et al. (1987) G.V. (unpublished) This work This work This work This work Haima et al. (1990) Haima et al. 0990) Haima et al. (1990) Haima et al. (1990) This work Haima et el. (1990) This work Van der Vossen et al. (1987) This work Van der Vossen et ai. (1987) Van der Vossen et ai. (1987) P. Cegiowski Vieira and Messing (1982)

" TY medium was as described b~ Biswal et al. (1967). For E. coli, Ap pius Km and Km plus Er were used at 50 pg/ml each. For B. subtilis, Km was

used at 10 pg/ml, Cm at 5 pg/ml and Er at 1 gg/ml. XGai was used at 40 gg/ml for £. coil and at 80 pg/ml for B. subtilis. The B. subtilis cells were grown to competence as described by Bron and Venema (1972) and, unless stated otherwise, transformed as described before (Haima et al., 1987).The E. co// cells were made competent and transformed as described before (Haima et ai., 1987). When ~Gal a-complementation in B. subtilis was assayed, transformants were selected at 30°C for 40 h.

44 ofmaximal competence. We tried to stabilize the lacZAM 15 gene by integrating it, together with a Km R marker gene, via a double cross-over event into the B. subtilis chromosome. The plasmid used for the integration, pKBU4 (Fig. 1, Table I), which is nonreplicative in B. subtilis, contains a 7.5-kb PstI fragment derived from the B. subtilis chromosome. Sequence analysis of this fragment (J.A.K.W. Kiel, J.M. Boels, G. Beldman, G. and G.V., unpublished) revealed that the Bglll site in this fragment starts approximately 2 kb downstream from the rrnB gene cluster (Green et al., 1985), approximately at position 275 ° on the genetic linkage map ofB. subtilis (Piggot and Hoch, 1985). Since it appeared that integration of DNA fragments in this region did not affect essential functions, we decided to target the lacZAM15 gene to this part of the B. subtilis chromosome. Plasmid pKBU5 (Fig. 1) was constructed by inserting the Nhel-Hindlll fragment from pGHS1, containing the lacZAMl5 and Km R genes, into the BgllI site of the pSCl01-based plasmid pKBU4. The pGHS1 moiety of pKBU5 was flanked with large nonessential regions of homology with the B. subtilischromosome (2.5 kb to the left and 5 kb to the right ofthe Bgill site), thus allowing homologous recombination to occur. To obtain the desired double crossover integration event, B. subtilis 6GM competent cells containing the lacZu-complementing plasmid pHPS9 (Haima et ai., 1990), were transformed with Pstl-cleaved pKBU5 DNA. This can only result in single-copy integration of the fragment of interest. All transformants selected on TY plates containing Km, Cm and XGal, showed pGai activity, suggesting that the lacZ4Ml5 gene had been integrated into the chromosome. As expected, Southern hybridization of restriction digests of chromosomal DNA from the transformants with appropriate probes, revealed that all integration events had taken place by double crossover recombination (results not shown), resulting in a stable copy number of one lacZLIM15 gene per chromosome equivalent.

(b) Optimizing the expression of the integrated lacZdMIS gene B. subtills cells containing the integrated lacZdM 15 gene and the lacZcc-complementing plasmid pHPS9, produced faint-blue colonies on media containing XGal. Since deepblue colonies were obtained in controls when the lacZ•M 15 gene was present on plasmid pGHS 1, this indicates that the level of expression of the integrated gene was reduced compared to the plasmid-borne gene. Most likely this was due to a gene dose effect: pGHS 1 was present at approximately five copies per chromosome equivalent. To quantitate the level of reduction of expression of the lacZAM 15 gene due to integration, we measured the/~Gal activity in exponentially growing cultures. The results (Table II) show that integration resulted in about a fourfold reduction of the pGal activity (pKBU5-derived integrants).

TABLE II /~Gal activities in B. subtY/sstrains carrying various lacZo~and lacZAMI5 combinations Strain

~Gal activity (u/ml) b

6GM[pGHSI + pHPS9] 6GM(pKBU5)[pHPS9] ~' 6GM(pKBU6)[pHPS9] a 6GM(pKBU7)[pHPS9] a

I I.I 2.7 9.9 5.4

a In these strains the lacZAMl5 gene was integrated into the chromosome. b /~Gal activity was assayed as described by Miller (1982) and expressed as u/ml culture (normalized for cell density).

Since the iacZ,4M 15 gone was under control of the strong lactococcal promoter P23, which is also highly active in B. subtilis (Van der Vossen et al., 1987), we reasoned that transcription would not be a limiting factor for expression of the gone. Therefore, we tried to increase the level of expression by improving the efficiency of translation. This was done by modifying the -20 to + 33 region of the gone (Fig. 1), using synthetic oligos. Throe kinds of modifications were introduced. First, the region upstream of the lacZAM 15 gone, which as a consequence of the construction is not the regular upstream sequence of the gone (Haima et al., 1989), was replaced by the -20 to -1 region of the B. subtgis spoOF gone, which was shown to be efficiently translated in B. subtgis (Shimotsu et al., 1983; Hager and Rabinowitz, 1985). Second, we adapted several third nt of the codons in the 0 to + 32 region of the lacZ4M 15 gone, such that those corresponded to the average nt distribution in this region of Gram* genes, as deduced from the work of Hager and Rabinowitz (1985). Third, the 2nd (ACC), 7th (CTG) and 8th (GCC) codon of the lacZ,4Ml5 gone, which are rare in highly expressed B. subtilis genes (Sharp et al., 1988), were substituted with frequently used codons. None of these changes resulted in aa substitutions in the protein. The modified lacZAMl5 gone was placed under control of either the lactococzal promoter P23 (Van der Vossen et al., 1987), resulting in plasmid pKBU6 (Fig. 1), or the B. subtYis phage SPO2 promoter (Williams et ai., 1981), resulting in plasmid pKBU7 (Fig. 1), and stably integrated into the B. subtilis chromosome in one copy by a double cross-over event (as described for pKBU5). These modifications of the gone rzsult~ in about a fourfold increase of the/1Gal activity (Table II; pKBU5 vs. pKBU6). Furthermore, promoter P23 appeared to result in about twofold higher levels of/IGal activity than the SPO2 promoter (pKBU6 vs. pKBU7). One of the pKBU6-derived intogrants, denoted B. subtilis strain 6GM 15, was selected for further use.

45 (c) Molecular cloning with the host-vector system 6GMIS-

talned a recombinant plasmid), and enabled the cloning of large heterologous inserts (up to at least 29 kb) with high efficiency.

plies9 To test the cloning properties of the novel host-vector system 6GMI5-pHPS9, BamHl-cleaved bacteriophage ~. DNA was ligated to BamHl-cleaved pHPS9 DNA at a mass ratio of 25:1 and a final DNA concentration of 500 pg/ml. The ligation mixture was used to transform 6GM15 competent cells and transformants were selected on Cm- and XGal-containing plates. Approximately 104 transformants per ml competent cells were obtained, among which 75~o were potential clones since these produced white colonies. Restriction analysis of plasmid DNA extracted from 24 randomly chosen potential clones revealed that all contained a recombinant pHPS9 plasmid, carrying inserts ranging from 5.6 to 29 kb (the average insert size amounted to 13.5 kb). From these results it can be conchlded that the host-vector system 6GM15pHPS9 was reliable (white colony producing cells con-

(d) Structural stabBity of recombinant plasmids Plasmids from Staphylococcus aureus are rather inefficient cloning vehicles (Gryczan et al., 1982; Janni~re et al., 1989; 1990; Michel et al., 1980), and inserts carried on these plasmids often suffer deletions (Ehrlich et al., 1986). Moreover, cloning in such vectors has been shown to result in high levels of size-dependent segregational instability (Bron et al., 1985; 1988). It has been postulated that the inferior cloning properties of staphylococcal plasmids are a consequence of their mode of replication (Janni~re et al., 1990); all these plasmids appear to replicate via ssDNA intermediates (termed ss + plasmids), probably by roiling-circle replication (for a review, see Gruss and Ehrlich, 1989). One observation supporting this hypothesis was that plasmids Sa,~

Sm

pGKH2 -. Pv ,~tM,t~Zoc

Sp

Bell

pGKH1 S0uNI~

S

¢

0

I x

t~0t r

~z smo! F.¢~I

Fig. 3, Construction ofplasmid pHPS 10. The Pstl and Sail sites on the pWVOl-based plasmid pGKV259 were removed with T4 DNA polymeraseand Pollk, respectively, resulting in plasmid pGKV259-2 (filling.in of the Sail site resulted in the generation of a Pvul site). The Scal-$phl fragment of pGKV259-2, containing promoter P59 and part ofthe cat-86gene, was used to replace the corresponding Scal-$phl fragmentofplasmid pGKH l, resulting jn plasmid pGKH2. Plasmid pHPS 10 was constructed by ligating the 1200-bp Smal-BamHI fragment from pGKH2 to plasmid pHPI3-2 digested with Hindlll (filled-in) and BamHl. The E. coilMC 1000[pLGSI] transformants carryingpHPS 10were selected on Km+ Er + XGal plates. Open bars, lacZot sequences; closed bars, cat.86 sequences; thin arrows in the plasmid, direction of transcription; bold arrows, promoter P59; or~pUC, or/of replication derived from plasmid pUCg; rep, primary replication functions of pTA1060. The followingrestriction sites (only those relevant for the construction) are indicated: B, BamHl; E, EcoRl; H, HindllI; P, Pstl; Pv, Pvul; S, Sail; Sa, Sau96I; Sc, Scal; Sm, Sinai; Sp, Sphl. Emtz, gene encoding Er resistance.

46 like pAM/~,, which replicate without generating ssDNA (termed ss- plasmids), appeared to be structurally more stable than plasmids based on the ssDNA generating replicon pC194, at least for certain types of deletions. Further support came from the observation that large DNA segments could be cloned on ss- plasmids, while only small fragments could be cloned on the ss ÷ plasmid (Janni~re eta]., 1990). Several observations in our laboratory indicate that the a. subtilis plasmid pTAI060 also replicates via a rolfingcircle mechanism (S.B. and S. Holsappel, unpublished). A region of pTAI060 was identified which is required for optimal segregationai stability (Bron etal., 1987), and which appeared to contain the origin of minus strand synthesis (or/- ; S.B. and S. Holsappel, unpublished). Because plasmid pHPS9 lacks the functional or/- and therefore accumulates ss DNA, it might be structurally unstable. To examine this possibility, we analyzed the structural stability of four recombinant pHPS9 plasmids, carrying bacteriophage ~ DNA fragments of 7.2, 16.8, 24 and 29.1 kb, respectively. All transformed colonies (12 of each type were examined) appeared to contain only the original plasmid, indicating that the inserts carried by pHPS9 were stable during transformation of competent cells. To examine the long-term stability of the inserts, transformants containing the four recombinant pHPS9 plasmids were grown in batch culture under Cm selective pressure for 100 generations. All cultures appeared to contain the original plasmid (results are shown for the 7.2-, 16.8- and 29-kb inserts in Fig. 2), indicating that the inserts carried by pHPS9 were also stable during long-term vegetative growth. It is therefore concluded that, although pTAl060-based plasmids replicate via a ssDNA-generating rolling-circle mechanism, they are far superior to the commonly used 5. aureus vectors with regard to cloning efficiencies and structural stability. At present we can only speculate about the reasons why in B. subtilis pTA 1060-derived plasmids are superior to the commonly used $. aureus plasmids. Since both groups of plasmids replicate in a similar way (via a rolling-circle mechanism), it is unlikely that the observed differences with respect to cloning efficiencies and stability are a direct consequence of their mode of replication. One possible explanation is that the types of structural instabifity shown to be stimulated by ssDNA (Janni~re and Ehrlich, 1987; Janni~re et al., 1990), do not occur frequently enough to interfere seriously with molecular cloning of foreign DNA in pTA1060-based plasmids. A significant difference between the two groups of plasmids is their copy number: five per chromosome equivalent for pTAI060, and from 20 to 50 for most ofthe S. aureus plasmids. It has been shown that the $. aureus plasmids generate, in addition to ssDNA repli~ttion in~ermechates, aberrant replication inter-

mediates of high-molecular-weight (HMW) DNA (Gruss and Ehrlich, 1988), if they carry foreign DNA inserts. HMW DNA was also observed in certain derivatives of pUBll0 (Viret and Alonso, 1987). Both ss and HMW DNA have been conceived to cause plasmid instability (Alonso et al., 1987; Gruss and Ehrfich, 1988; Viret and Alonso, 1987), possibly in an indirect way by interfering with cell growth. It is attractive to speculate that pTA1060based plasmids generate only small amounts of ss and HMW plasmid DNA. Preliminary experiments suggest that this is indeed the case (S.B. and S. Holsappel, unpubfished). The production of ss DNA can even be further reduced by the introduction of the or/- in plasmids like pHPS9, which we expect to result in an even further improvement of the stability properties, also segregationaily, of these plasmids. (e) Construction of improved cloning vectors To extend the number of unique target sites in the MCS of the lacZ~-complementing plasmid pHPS9, one of each of the duplicate Sail and Pstl sites was removed, resulting in plasmid pHPSI0. The details ofpHPSl0, along with an outline of its construction, are shown in Fig. 3. Unexpectedly, plasmid pHPSI0 failed to express Cm resistance in B. subtilis. Furthermore, the/~Gal activity in 6GMI5[pHPSI0] was considerably higher (60.6 u/ml) than in 6GMI5[pHPS9] (9.9 u/mi). Since the copy numbers of pHPS9 and pHPS 10 were similar (five copies per chromosome equivalent, results not shown), the most likely explanation for the decreased expression of the CmR gene is strong read-through transcription from promoter P59 in pHPS 10 into the divergently transcribed Cm gene. This was concluded from the fact that the insertion of the F,. coil rrnB Tj T2 terminators (Brosius et al., 1981) into the Eco RI site of the cat-86 : : lacZo~ fusion on pHPS 10 restored the Cm R phenotype. Although plasmid pHPSI0 does not express Cm R in B. subtilis, the vector is very useful for molecular cloning in this organism. It confers ErR to B. subtilis and contains eight unique restriction sites suitable for the direct selection of cloned heterologous DNA fragments. Furthermore, the plasmid might be useful for isolating transcription terminators. We have shown that by screening for Cm R transformants, recombinant pHPS 10 plasmids carrying the Ts T~ terminator fragment were selected.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Henk Mulder for preparing the figures and Gist-Brocades N.V., Delft, for providing synthetic oligos and for funding of this project.

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An improved beta-galactosidase alpha-complementation system for molecular cloning in Bacillus subtilis.

The recently described beta-galactosidase alpha-complementation system for molecular cloning in Bacillus subtilis [Haima et al., Gene 86 (1990) 63-69]...
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