Overexpression of Cold Shock Protein A of Psychromonas arctica KOPRI 22215 Confers Cold-Resistance

• Published in: The Protein Journal Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 136 - 142
• Main Authors: Jung, Youn Hong, Yi, Ji-Yeun, Jung, Hyun Jung, Lee, Yoo Kyung, Lee, Hong Kum, Naicker, Mahendran Chinnamara, Uh, Ji-hyun, Jo, I Seul, Jung, Eun Jung, Im, Hana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.02.2010; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Amino acids; Animal Anatomy; Bacteria; Bacterial Proteins - classification; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Biochemistry; Bioorganic Chemistry; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cloning; Cloning, Molecular; Cold Temperature; E coli; Escherichia coli; Freezing; Gammaproteobacteria - genetics; Gammaproteobacteria - physiology; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Histology; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Morphology; Organic Chemistry; Phylogeny; Polar environments; Proteins; Sediments; Sequence Alignment; Arctic region; Psychrophile; Cold resistance; Arctic bacteria; Cold-shock protein (Csp)
• ISSN: 1572-3887; 1573-4943; 1875-8355
• DOI: 10.1007/s10930-010-9233-9

A polar bacterium was isolated from Arctic sea sediments and identified as Psychromonas artica, based on 16S rDNA sequence. Psychromonas artica KOPRI 22215 has an optimal growth temperature of 10 °C and a maximum growth temperature of 25 °C, suggesting this bacterium is a psychrophile. Cold shock proteins (Csps) are induced upon temperature downshift by more than 10 °C. Functional studies have researched mostly Csps of a mesophilic bacterium Escherichia coli , but not on those of psychrophilic bacteria. In an effort to understand the molecular mechanisms of psychrophilic bacteria that allow it withstand freezing environments, we cloned a gene encoding a cold shock protein from P. artica KOPRI 22215 (CspA Pa ) using the conserved sequences in csp genes. The 204 bp-long ORF encoded a protein of 68 amino acids, sharing 56% homology to previously reported E. coli CspA protein. When CspA Pa was overexpressed in E. coli , it caused cell growth-retardation and morphological elongation. Interestingly, overexpression of CspA Pa drastically increased the host’s cold-resistance by more than ten times, suggesting the protein aids survival in polar environments.