Studies of host-plasmid interactions in recombinant microorganisms

Abstract

Plasmid genes redirect some components of cellular metabolism into synthesis of plasmid gene products and additional plasmids. The stoichiometric and kinetic implications of these host-plasmid interactions have been investigated theoretically and experimentally. Using known pathway energetics, maximum theoretical yield factors based on ATP, glucose, and O2 have been estimated for recombinant Escherichia coli and compared with corresponding estimates for host cells alone, indicating major changes in carbon and energetic stoichiometry in recombinant cells in cases of high cloned gene expression. The influence of the number of plasmids in recombinant E. coli has been experimentally characterized using a series of pMB1 derivatives stably propagated at copy numbers from 12 to 408. Recombinant cell growth rate declines monotonically as plasmid content increases as does efficiency of plasmid gene expression. A detailed metabolically structured single-cell model for E. coli has successfully simulated these trends. Interrelationships among number of plasmids per cell, induction of expression of a plasmid gene, and recombinant population growth rate have been experimentally delineated for Saccharomyces cerevisiae containing plasmid pLGSD5 and derivatives in which the 2-micron origin of replication has been replaced by a cloned ARS1 sequence or its deletion fragments. The CEN4 centromere sequence has been included in some of these plasmids to provide more regular segregation. Specific growth rate of these recombinant yeasts exhibits a maximum as a function of plasmid content, an effect attributed to the interplay between beneficial effects of the plasmid in selective medium and parasitic effects on metabolism at larger plasmid content or with more plasmid gene expression activity. The yeast strains investigated exhibit substantial segregational instability that was characterized using a rapid-flow cytometry measurement based upon single-cell deletion of E. coli beta-galactosidase activity in recombinant cells.