The 20 kDa C-terminally truncated form of pertussis toxin subunit S1 secreted from Bacillus subtilis

The subunit S1 of pertussis toxin (PT) was purified as the recombinant product BacS1 from the culture supernatant of a Bacillus subtilis strain containing a secretion vector with a DNA fragment coding for the mature subunit S1 inserted downstream of the signal sequence of the alpha-amylase gene. The method of purification was successive ion exchange and adsorption chromatography. BacS1 occurred in two forms (28 and 20 kDa) of which the truncated 20-kDa peptide was the main one in the supernatant. The truncated BacS1 was purified and shown to have the same NH2-terminus as the full-size (28 kDa) BacS1. It was also enzymatically active indicating correct conformation. The truncated BacS1 was also shown to elicit neutralizing and protective antibodies when injected into mice or rabbits.