Development and construction of a novel Bacillus subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on a LuxI/R device

Abstract Background Microbial chassis expression systems are valuable tools in biotechnology and synthetic biology, and Bacillus subtilis is an important industrial microbial chassis. Quorum sensing (QS)-based dynamic regulation is widely used to automatically activate gene expression in response to...

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Main Authors: Bin Wang, Keyi Wang, Xiuyue Zhao, Zemin Fang, Yanyan Zhao, Yulu Fang, Yazhong Xiao, Dongbang Yao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:Microbial Cell Factories
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-025-02719-8
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author Bin Wang
Keyi Wang
Xiuyue Zhao
Zemin Fang
Yanyan Zhao
Yulu Fang
Yazhong Xiao
Dongbang Yao
author_facet Bin Wang
Keyi Wang
Xiuyue Zhao
Zemin Fang
Yanyan Zhao
Yulu Fang
Yazhong Xiao
Dongbang Yao
author_sort Bin Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Microbial chassis expression systems are valuable tools in biotechnology and synthetic biology, and Bacillus subtilis is an important industrial microbial chassis. Quorum sensing (QS)-based dynamic regulation is widely used to automatically activate gene expression in response to changes in cell density. The main bottleneck currently limiting the use of exogenous QS systems in B. subtilis for efficient autoinducible extracellular expression of recombinant proteins is their low level of autoinducible expression. Results A novel B. subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on the LuxI/R-type QS system (lux system) of Vibrio fischeri was developed in which the autoinducible expression of the lux system was enhanced by engineering the sensing module and response module promoters. By engineering the sensing module promoter SP luxI core region (− 10 and − 35 elements) and critical region (UP and spacer elements), and the response module promoter RP luxIR6 core region and lux box copy number in the original LuxI/R device (S0-R0), the high-expression Sc-R2 construct was obtained. After shake flask and 3-L fermenter fermentation, the extracellular amylase activity obtained with Sc-R2 was 2.7- and 3.1-fold greater, respectively, than that obtained with the well-characterized promoter P veg . Sc-R2 achieved 2.6-fold greater extracellular activity than S0-R0 when either levansucrase or invertase was used as a reporter protein. Overall, the B. subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system developed in this study showed good generalizability and application potential for industrial-scale fermentation. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study to report enhanced autoinducible expression of the lux system in B. subtilis by engineering the sensing module promoter SP luxI sequence and the lux box copy number of the response module promoter RP luxIR6 . This study further expands the application potential of the B. subtilis expression system in synthetic biology.
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spelling doaj-art-4a0aa5b622c34c1eb52a098d86aa65ce2025-08-20T02:27:06ZengBMCMicrobial Cell Factories1475-28592025-04-0124111410.1186/s12934-025-02719-8Development and construction of a novel Bacillus subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on a LuxI/R deviceBin Wang0Keyi Wang1Xiuyue Zhao2Zemin Fang3Yanyan Zhao4Yulu Fang5Yazhong Xiao6Dongbang Yao7School of Life Sciences, Anhui UniversitySchool of Life Sciences, Anhui UniversitySchool of Life Sciences, Anhui UniversitySchool of Life Sciences, Anhui UniversitySchool of Life Sciences, Anhui UniversitySchool of Life Sciences, Anhui UniversitySchool of Life Sciences, Anhui UniversitySchool of Life Sciences, Anhui UniversityAbstract Background Microbial chassis expression systems are valuable tools in biotechnology and synthetic biology, and Bacillus subtilis is an important industrial microbial chassis. Quorum sensing (QS)-based dynamic regulation is widely used to automatically activate gene expression in response to changes in cell density. The main bottleneck currently limiting the use of exogenous QS systems in B. subtilis for efficient autoinducible extracellular expression of recombinant proteins is their low level of autoinducible expression. Results A novel B. subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on the LuxI/R-type QS system (lux system) of Vibrio fischeri was developed in which the autoinducible expression of the lux system was enhanced by engineering the sensing module and response module promoters. By engineering the sensing module promoter SP luxI core region (− 10 and − 35 elements) and critical region (UP and spacer elements), and the response module promoter RP luxIR6 core region and lux box copy number in the original LuxI/R device (S0-R0), the high-expression Sc-R2 construct was obtained. After shake flask and 3-L fermenter fermentation, the extracellular amylase activity obtained with Sc-R2 was 2.7- and 3.1-fold greater, respectively, than that obtained with the well-characterized promoter P veg . Sc-R2 achieved 2.6-fold greater extracellular activity than S0-R0 when either levansucrase or invertase was used as a reporter protein. Overall, the B. subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system developed in this study showed good generalizability and application potential for industrial-scale fermentation. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study to report enhanced autoinducible expression of the lux system in B. subtilis by engineering the sensing module promoter SP luxI sequence and the lux box copy number of the response module promoter RP luxIR6 . This study further expands the application potential of the B. subtilis expression system in synthetic biology.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-025-02719-8Bacillus subtilisQuorum sensingLux systemAutoinducible extracellular expressionPromoter
spellingShingle Bin Wang
Keyi Wang
Xiuyue Zhao
Zemin Fang
Yanyan Zhao
Yulu Fang
Yazhong Xiao
Dongbang Yao
Development and construction of a novel Bacillus subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on a LuxI/R device
Microbial Cell Factories
Bacillus subtilis
Quorum sensing
Lux system
Autoinducible extracellular expression
Promoter
title Development and construction of a novel Bacillus subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on a LuxI/R device
title_full Development and construction of a novel Bacillus subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on a LuxI/R device
title_fullStr Development and construction of a novel Bacillus subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on a LuxI/R device
title_full_unstemmed Development and construction of a novel Bacillus subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on a LuxI/R device
title_short Development and construction of a novel Bacillus subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on a LuxI/R device
title_sort development and construction of a novel bacillus subtilis autoinducible extracellular expression system based on a luxi r device
topic Bacillus subtilis
Quorum sensing
Lux system
Autoinducible extracellular expression
Promoter
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-025-02719-8
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