Cloning and expression of an alpha-amylase gene from Streptomyces thermoviolaceus CUB74 in Escherichia coli JM107 and S. lividans TK24.

A gene coding for a thermostable extracellular alpha-amylase, carried by a 5.7 kb BamHI chromosomal DNA fragment isolated from Streptomyces thermoviolaceus strain CUB74, was cloned into Escherichia coli JM107 using, as a cloning vector, the high-copy-number plasmid pUC8. E. coli containing a recombinant plasmid pQR300 expressed the amylase gene and exported the enzyme into the periplasmic space and the culture medium. The amylase protein expressed by E. coli had the same molecular mass (50 kDa) as that expressed by the Streptomyces parent strain, which suggests that the enzyme is processed similarly by both strains. The amylase gene was also cloned into Streptomyces lividans TK24 using pIJ702 as vector. The enzyme was stable at 70 degrees C when CaCl2 was present.