Enhancement of protein secretion by TatAC overexpression in Streptomyces griseus

Production of proteins in secretary form is one of the important factors affecting fermentation. The Tat (twin arginine translocation) protein secretion system, which includes the proteins TatA, TatB, and TatC, was identified in the genomic sequence of Streptomyces griseus IFO13350. The tatA and tatC genes were organized into a polycistronic operon, whereas tatB was located separately on the chromosome. Comparison of amino acid sequences suggested that TatC was a membrane-spanning protein, whereas TatA and TatB were found to be cytoplasmic proteins. Analysis of extracellular proteins and N-terminal amino acid sequencing revealed that secretion of SGR5556 was significantly enhanced by overexpression of TatAC in S. griseus HH1. Further, enzymatic study showed that SGR5556 encoded a glycerophosphoryl diester phosphodiesterase. In addition, other hydrolase activities, such as those of amylase, total protease, metalloprotease, trypsin, chymotrypsin, and Leuaminopeptidase, were also enhanced by 3, 3, 2.6, 2.3, 5.4, and 2.5 fold, respectively, in S. griseus upon TatAC overexpression. Overexpression of TatAC induced the production of a greenish-yellow pigment in S. griseus HH1 as well as more abundant sporulation at an earlier stage in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). In silico analysis by TatFIND, SignalP, and TMHMM identified 19 binding proteins, 28 enzymatic proteins, and 27 other proteins with unknown functions as putative TatAC-dependent secretary proteins. These results clearly indicate that TatA and TatC constitute a functional Tat system in S. griseus. Additionally, the S. griseus Tat system can be useful for the production of valuable proteins, including many hydrolytic enzymes and candidates of Tat-dependent secretary proteins, under industrial conditions.