Exceptionally high heterologous protein levels in transgenic dicotyledonous seeds using Phaseolus vulgaris regulatory sequences.

Seeds are concentrated sources of protein and thus may be ideal 'bioreactors' for the production of heterologous proteins. For this application, strong seed-specific expression signals are required. A set of expression cassettes were designed using 5' and 3' regulatory sequences of the seed storage protein gene arcelin 5-I (arc5-I) from Phaseolus vulgaris, and evaluated for the production of heterologous proteins in dicotyledonous plant species. A murine single-chain variable fragment (scFv) was chosen as model protein because of the current industrial interest to produce antibodies and derived fragments in crops. Because the highest scFv accumulation in seed had previously been achieved in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the scFv-encoding sequence was provided with signal sequences for accumulation in the ER. Transgenic Arabidopsis seed stocks, expressing the scFv under control of the 35S promoter, contained scFv accumulation levels in the range of 1% of total soluble protein (TSP). However, the seed storage promoter constructs boosted the scFv to exceptionally high levels. Maximum scFv levels were obtained in homozygous seed stocks, being 12.5% of TSP under control of the arc5-I regulatory sequences and even up to 36.5% of TSP upon replacing the arc5-I promoter by the beta-phaseolin promoter of Phaseolus vulgaris. Even at such very high levels, the scFv proteins retain their full antigen-binding activity. Moreover, the presence of very high scFv levels has only minory effects on seed germination and no effect on seed production. These results demonstrate that the expression levels of arcelin 5-I and beta-phaseolin seed storage protein genes can be transferred to heterologous proteins, giving exceptionally high levels of heterologous proteins, which can be of great value for the molecular farming industry by raising production yield and lowering bio-mass production and purification costs. Finally, the feasibility of heterologous protein production using the arcelin 5-I construct was demonstrated in the legume Phaseolus acutifolius, an interesting and promising crop for large-scale production.