Streptomyces lividans as host for heterologous protein production.

Streptomycetes are Gram-positive soil bacteria with a well differentiated morphology. They are considered interesting candidates for the production of heterologous proteins for several reasons, including their efficient secretion mechanism by which the secreted proteins are localized into the culture supernatant. In view of this potential, this review article describes different aspects of gene expression and regulation in Streptomyces, and summarizes and discusses results obtained using Streptomyces lividans as host for secretion of heterologous proteins of prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin.