ReddishEscherichia coliCells Caused by Overproduction ofBacillus stearothermophilusUroporphyrinogen III Methylase: Cloning, Sequencing, and Expression of the Gene

1 January 1995

journal article
Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry

Vol. 59 (10) , 1817-1824
https://doi.org/10.1271/bbb.59.1817

Abstract

During shotgun cloning of an amylase gene, we found a transform ant of Escherichia coli with a reddish color. The transform ant produced highly water-soluble red pigments the molecular masses of which were less than 3000. The plasmid harbored by the transform ant contained a DNA fragment derived from a strain of Bacillus stearothermophilus. Truncation of the insert DNA showed that an 1.1-kbp Sau 3A–SalI fragment was responsible for the reddish colony. An open reading frame was found in the nucleotide sequence of the 1.1-kbp DNA fragment. The production of the red pigment was accompanied by a colorless 28-kDa protein. The sequence of the 28-kDa protein was highly homologous to bacterial uroporphyrinogen III methylases participating in corrinoid biosynthesis. The 28-kDa protein was found to be a thermostable uroporphyrinogen III methylase.

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