APPLICATIONS:
Biological production of recombinant proteins and chemicals for
- Pharmaceuticals
- Biofuels
- Commodity chemicals
ADVANTAGES:
- Enables inexpensive induction at low inducer concentrations
- Components do not interfere with other induction systems or the host’s metabolism
- High induction and expression levels
- Tight control
- Suitable for industrial applications
- Functionality not limited to coli
ABSTRACT:
Thomas Reugg of the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has developed a versatile tool for inducing gene expression in fermentation systems. Specifically, tightly controlled and highly inducible Eil-based expression systems have been engineered by combining core promoters with eil-operators. The name Jungle Express refers to the rainforest bacterium from which the system originated.
A range of inexpensive, hydrophobic cations are used to induce gene expression. The high binding affinity of these compounds to EilR and other transcriptional regulators enables efficient release of the regulatory protein from its DNA-binding site, even when inducers are added at low concentrations.
Eil-promoters enable high expression rates when induced, while basal transcription levels are minimal in the repressed state. The low costs for full induction make this technology suitable for large scale industrial applications. Eil-promoters do not require special media conditions and are demonstrated to function in different bacteria, with early indications of efficacy in yeast.
STATUS: Patent pending. Available for license or collaborative research.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Proven principle
