1. Engineering a probiotic Bacillus subtilis for acetaldehyde removal: A hag locus integration to robustly express acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.
- Author
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Hassan-Casarez C, Ryan V, Shuster BM, Oliver JWK, and Abbott ZD
- Subjects
- Promoter Regions, Genetic, Bacterial Proteins genetics, Bacterial Proteins metabolism, Flagellin genetics, Flagellin metabolism, Genetic Engineering methods, Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial, Acetaldehyde metabolism, Probiotics metabolism, Bacillus subtilis genetics, Bacillus subtilis metabolism, Aldehyde Oxidoreductases genetics, Aldehyde Oxidoreductases metabolism
- Abstract
We have addressed critical challenges in probiotic design to develop a commercially viable bacterial strain capable of removing the intestinal toxin, acetaldehyde. In this study, we report the engineering of the hag locus, a σD-dependent flagellin expression site, as a stable location for robust enzyme production. We demonstrate constitutive gene expression in relevant conditions driven by the endogenous hag promoter, following a deletion of the gene encoding a post-translational regulator of σD, FlgM, and a point mutation to abrogate the binding of the translational inhibitor CsrA. Reporter constructs demonstrate activity at the hag locus after germination, with a steady increase in heterologous expression throughout outgrowth and vegetative growth. To evaluate the chassis as a spore-based probiotic solution, we identified the physiologically relevant ethanol metabolic pathway and the subsequent accumulation of gut-derived acetaldehyde following alcohol consumption. We integrated a Cupriavidus necator aldehyde dehydrogenase gene (acoD) into the hag locus under the control of the flagellin promoter and observed a rapid reduction in acetaldehyde levels in gut-simulated conditions post-germination. This work demonstrates a promising approach for the development of genetically engineered spore-based probiotics., Competing Interests: CH, VR, BS, JO, and ZA are paid employees of ZBiotics Company and hold stock/stock options in ZBiotics Company. ZA is also a board member of ZBiotics Company. As such, employees of ZBiotics played a role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, and preparation of the manuscript. Investors in ZBiotics Company provided financial support to the company and thus supported the salaries of CH, VR, BS, JO, and ZA but did not have any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials., (Copyright: © 2024 Hassan-Casarez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
- Published
- 2024
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