A cloning vector for efficient generation of cholera toxin B gene fusions for epitope screening

Gene fusion proteins with epitopes attached to the amino end of cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) are useful to raise immunological responses. We describe a cloning vector, designated pCTBtet, carrying a tetracycline resistance gene (TetR) between the leader peptide and mature CTB. Removal of TetR to insert oligonucleotides encoding fusion epitopes allowed for screening of tetracycline-sensitive clones. Restoration of the correct CTB reading phase was subsequently used to choose gene fusion candidate colonies. The use of pCTBtet permitted the rapid construction of 8 fusion proteins carrying 9-24 aa from Salmonella typhi OmpC and 6 hybrids with 7-31 aa from Escherichia coli colonization factor CFAI.