Use of FabV-Triclosan plasmid selection system for efficient expression and production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli

Abstract

Maintenance of recombinant plasmid vectors in host bacteria relies on the presence of selection antibiotics in the growth media to suppress plasmid-free segregants. However, presence of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotics themselves is not acceptable in several applications of biotechnology. Previously, we have shown that FabV-Triclosan selection system can be used to select high and medium copy number plasmid vectors in E. coli. Here, we have extended our previous work and demonstrated that expression vectors containing FabV can be used efficiently to express heterologous recombinant proteins in similar or better amounts in E. coli host when compared with expression vectors containing β-lactamase. Use of small amount of non-antibiotic Triclosan as selection agent in growth medium, enhanced plasmid stability, applicability in various culture media, and compatibility with other selection systems for multiple plasmid maintenance are noteworthy features of FabVTriclosan selection system.