System and method for the heterologous expression of polyketide synthase gene clusters

Abstract

A system and method for heterologous expression of polyketide biosynthetic pathways from streptomycetes hosts in Escherichia coli for the production and discovery of secondary metabolites. Genomic DNA from Streptomyces rimosus encoding the oxytetracycline biosynthetic pathway is inserted into the genome of the surrogate host Myxococcus xanthus. The M. xanthus transcriptional machinery recognizes and uses the streptomycetes promoter regions to express the biosynthetic enzymes. Co-expression in E. coli of S. rimosus oxytetracycline biosynthesis enzymes and M. xanthus σ54, a key piece of the M. xanthus transcriptional machinery, enables E. coli to recognize and use the promoters from the S. rimosus oxytetracycline biosynthetic pathway, facilitating production of oxytetracycline.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.