Expression of the B subunit of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin in a marine Vibrio and in a mutant that is pleiotropically defective in the secretion of extracellular proteins
- 1 April 1992
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Microbiology Society in Journal of General Microbiology
- Vol. 138 (4) , 719-724
- https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-138-4-719
Abstract
A marine Vibrio (designated Vibrio sp. 60) that is related to Vibrio anguillarum was used as a host for a plasmid that encodes the non-toxic B subunit (EtxB) of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin. Expression of EtxB in Vibrio sp. 60 resulted in the efficient and selective secretion of the B subunit into the extracellular growth medium. This indicated that Vibrio sp. 60, which does not normally produce cholera-like enterotoxins, nonetheless possesses a secretory machinery that permits these toxins to be translocated across its cytoplasmic and outer membranes. Expression of EtxB in a sec mutant of Vibrio sp. 60 (MVT1192), which had previously been shown to be defective in the secretion of several extracellular proteins, resulted in approximately 95% of the B subunit remaining entrapped within the periplasm of the bacterial cell envelope. This implies that the mutation in MVT1192 defines a locus that determines a common step in the secretion of extracellular proteins, including oligomeric toxins.Keywords
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