No abstract

We report a method for the integration of expression cassettes into the Escherichia coli chromosome using rare and dispensable sugar degradation gene loci as sites for integration. Clones carrying successfully recombined DNA fragments in the chromosome are easily screened using a solid differential medium containing the respective sugar compound. As an example for the heterologous expression of a complex natural product biosynthesis pathway, we show the stepwise chromosomal integration of the zeaxanthin biosynthesis pathway from Pantoea ananatis into E. coli.

For the sake of energy preservation, bacteria, upon transition to stationary phase, tone down their protein synthesis. This process is favored by the reversible binding of small stressinduced proteins to the ribosome to prevent unnecessary translation. One example is the conserved bacterial ribosome silencing factor (RsfS) that binds to uL14 protein onto the large ribosomal subunit and prevents its association with the small subunit. Here we describe the binding mode of Staphylococcus aureus RsfS to the large ribosomal subunit and present a 3.2 Å resolution cryo-EM reconstruction of the 50S-RsfS complex together with the crystal structure of uL14-RsfS complex solved at 2.3 Å resolution. The understanding of the detailed landscape of RsfS-uL14 interactions within the ribosome shed light on the mechanism of ribosome shutdown in the human pathogen S. aureus and might deliver a novel target for pharmacological drug development and treatment of bacterial infections.