Tuning transcription factor DegU for developing extracellular protease overproducer in Bacillus pumilus

Global transcription machinery engineering (gTME) is an effective approach employed in strain engineering to rewire gene expression and reshape cellular metabolic fluxes at the transcriptional level.

In this study, we utilized gTME to engineer the positive transcription factor, DegU, in the regulation network of major alkaline protease, AprE, in Bacillus pumilus. To validate its functionality when incorporated into the chromosome, we performed several experiments. First, three negative transcription factors, SinR, Hpr, and AbrB, were deleted to promote AprE synthesis. Second, several hyper-active DegU mutants, designated as DegU(hy), were selected using the fluorescence colorimetric method with the host of the Bacillus subtilis ΔdegSU mutant. Third, we integrated a screened degU(L113F) sequence into the chromosome of the Δhpr mutant of B. pumilus SCU11 to replace the original degU gene using a CRISPR/Cas9 system. Finally, based on transcriptomic and molecular dynamic analysis, we interpreted the possible mechanism of high-yielding and found that the strain produced alkaline proteases 2.7 times higher than that of the control strain (B. pumilus SCU11) in LB medium.

Our findings serve as a proof-of-concept that tuning the global regulator is feasible and crucial for improving the production performance of B. pumilus. Additionally, our study established a paradigm for gene function research in strains that are difficult to handle.