The multifunctionality of expression systems in Bacillus subtilis: Emerging devices for the production of recombinant proteins

Abstract

Bacillus subtilis is a successful host for producing recombinant proteins. Its GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status and its remarkable innate ability to absorb and incorporate exogenous DNA into its genome make this organism an ideal platform for the heterologous expression of bioactive substances. The factors that corroborate its value can be attributed to the scientific knowledge obtained from decades of study regarding its biology that has fostered the development of several genetic engineering strategies, such as the use of different plasmids, engineering of constitutive or double promoters, chemical inducers, systems of self-inducing expression with or without a secretion system that uses a signal peptide, and so on. Tools that enrich the technological arsenal of this expression platform improve the efficiency and reduce the costs of production of proteins of biotechnological importance. Therefore, this review aims to highlight the major advances involving recombinant expression systems developed in B. subtilis, thus sustaining the generation of knowledge and its application in future research. It was verified that this bacterium is a model in constant demand and studies of the expression of recombinant proteins on a large scale are increasing in number. As such, it represents a powerful bacterial host for academic research and industrial purposes.

RETRACTED: Expression of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Receptor Binding Domain on Recombinant B. subtilis on Spore Surface: A Potential COVID-19 Oral Vaccine Candidate

“…Due to its characteristics in regulating humoral and cellular immunity, B. subtilis has become an ideal vaccine carrier for the mucosal immunization vaccine [8]. Together with its GRAS (generally considered as Vaccines 2022, 10, 2 2 of 18 safe) property (in certain strains) and easy genetic manipulationproperties, this organism can serve as an ideal platform for the heterologous expression of bioactive substances in the intestinal tract [9]. B. subtilis has been used as an adjuvant in chickens treated with inactivated avian influenza virus H9N2 [10].…”

Current state of molecular and metabolic strategies for the improvement of L-asparaginase expression in heterologous systems

“…microorganism, unlike E. coli , is GRAS (generally regarded as safe) due to its non-pathogenic and nontoxic properties. In addition, it is Gram-positive; thus, allows an easy secretion of proteins to extracellular media (Niu et al, 2021;Souza et al, 2021). Many efforts have been made to identify strong promoters for the controlling transcription.…”

Influence of N-terminal His-tags on the production of recombinant proteins in the cytoplasm of Bacillus subtilis

“…Many modifications of the host strain improved the secretion of recombinant protein production [4] . The expression systems also developed in B. subtilis [5] . Most studies on the intracellular production of recombinant proteins have focused on B. subtilis [6] using promoter elements optimized for strong expression [7] .…”