Enhanced extracellular production of alpha-lactalbumin from Bacillus subtilis through signal peptide and promoter screening

Alpha-lactalbumin(α-LA)is a major whey protein found in breast milk and plays a crucial role in the growth and development of infants.In this study,Bacillus subtilis RIK1285 harboring AprE signal peptide(SP)was selected as the original strain for the production ofα-LA.It was found thatα-LA was identified in the pellet after ultrasonic disruption and centrifugation instead of in the fermentation supernatant.The original strain most likely only producedα-LA intracellular,but not extracellular.To improve the expression and secretion ofα-LA in RIK1285,a library of 173 homologous SPs from the B.subtilis 168 genome was fused with target LALBA gene in the pBE-S vector and expressed extracellularly in RIK1285.SP YjcN was determined to be the best signal peptide.Bands in supernatant were observed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and purified by nickel column to calculate the highest yield signal peptide.In addition,different promoters(P_(aprE),P_(43),and P_(glv))were compared and applied.The results indicated that the strain RIK1285-pBE-P_(glv)-YjcN-LALBA had the highestα-LA yield,reaching 122.04μg/mL.This study demonstrates successful expression and secretion of humanα-LA in B.subtilis and establishes a foundation for simulating breast milk for infant formulas and developing bioengineered milk.

Efficient biosynthesis of creatine by whole-cell catalysis from guanidinoacetic acid in Corynebacterium glutamicum

Creatine is a naturally occurring derivative of an amino acid commonly utilized in functional foods and pharmaceuticals.Nevertheless,the current industrial synthesis of creatine relies on chemical processes,which may hinder its utilization in certain applications.Therefore,a biological approach was devised that employs whole-cell biocatalysis in the bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum,which is considered safe for use in food production,to produce safe-for-consumption creatine.The objective of this study was to identify a guanidinoacetate N-methyltransferase(GAMT)with superior catalytic activity for creatine production.Through employing whole-cell biocatalysis,a gamt gene from Mus caroli(Mcgamt)was cloned and expressed in C.glutamicum ATCC 13032,resulting in a creatine titer of 3.37 g/L.Additionally,the study employed a promoter screening strategy that utilized nine native strong promoters in C.glutamicum to enhance the expression level of GAMT.The highest titer was achieved using the P1676 promoter,reaching 4.14 g/L.The conditions of whole-cell biocatalysis were further optimized,resulting in a creatine titer of 5.42 g/L.This is the first report of successful secretory creatine expression in C.glutamicum,which provides a safer and eco-friendly approach for the industrial production of creatine.