Part:BBa_K2992042

Promoterless FAST reporter construct

Usage and Biology

This parts entry represents a promoterless FAST reporter construct. The construct comprises the fluorescent reporter gene FAST BBa_K2992000, coupled with the strong clostridial terminator TFad BBa_K2284012. FAST is one of the few fluorescent reporters available for effective use in anaerobic organisms. FAST is derived from Halorhodospira halophila and has been codon optimised for fluorescence studies in the genus Clostridium. In our project we couple FAST with the natural promoters of the BotR regulon thus linking reporter fluorescence with botulinum neurotoxin production. In doing so, we hoped to generate our surrogate host strain as a model for predicting neurotoxin production in foodstuffs following food manufacturing processes.

Characterisation

In order to assess the feasibility of linking reporter production with Botulinum neurotoxin production, we first generated our botR-integrants of C. sporogenes. botR expression was either driven by the native PbotR promoter BBa_K2992025, or the botR RBS without an accompanying promoter to permit polar transcription from PpyrKDE BBa_K2992026. Thereafter, promoter-FAST constructs comprising PntnH BBa_K2992044, Pfdx BBa_K2992043, or the promoterless control BBa_K2992042, upstream of FAST, were cloned onto pMTL82151 vectors and transformed into the abovementioned reporter strains. We then assayed for the presence of FAST in C. sporogenes lysates over a 48h period.

Considerable FAST activity was detected when botR was expressed from the genome of C. sporogenes using its native promoter when coupled with plasmid-borne PntnH-FAST (red lines). Crucially, the level of FAST detected in the absence of genomic botR was comparable to the promoter-less FAST plasmid (green vs orange lines). Plasmid-borne Pfdx-FAST generated sufficient reporter activity across all time-points. These data demonstrate that genomic botR can be used to regulate reporter gene expression to appreciable levels when placed under the control of the PntnH promoter. The FAST data corroborates the data obtained from our acetone production pathways thus consolidating the suitability of our C. sporogenes reporter strains as models for the prediction of Botulinum neurotoxin production in foodstuffs.

Sequence and Features

Assembly Compatibility:

• 10
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[10]
• 12
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[12]
• 21
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[21]
• 23
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[23]
• 25
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[25]
• 1000
  INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[1000]

  Illegal BsaI.rc site found at 155
  

References

Streett, H., Kalis, K. and Papoutsakis, E. (2019). A Strongly Fluorescing Anaerobic Reporter and Protein-Tagging System for Clostridium Organisms Based on the Fluorescence-Activating and Absorption-Shifting Tag Protein (FAST). Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 85(14).

Heap, J., Pennington, O., Cartman, S. and Minton, N. (2009). A modular system for Clostridium shuttle plasmids. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 78(1), pp.79-85.