Cloning, sequence, and expression of a lipase gene from Pseudomonas cepacia: lipase production in heterologous hosts requires two Pseudomonas genes.

The lipA gene encoding an extracellular lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was cloned and sequenced. Downstream from the lipase gene an open reading frame was identified, and the corresponding gene was named limA. lipA was well expressed only in the presence of limA. limA exerts its effect both in cis and in trans and therefore produces a diffusible gene product, presumably a protein of 344 amino acids. Replacement of the lipA expression signals (promoter, ribosome-binding site, and signal peptide-coding sequences) by heterologous signals from gram-positive bacteria still resulted in limA-dependent lipA expression in Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Streptomyces lividans.