Increased Production Of Pertussigen S1 Subunit Via Phage Expression And Insertion Of A Transcription Terminator

Abstract

Increased production of the S1 subunit of the toxin secreted by Bordetella pertussis, the causitive agent of whooping cough, was attempted by two methods. The first method was to use phage to insert the sequence for the S1 subunit into IL coli so that this bacterium would produce the subunit. This method was used to replace an inefficient heat transduction method formerly used. The second method attempted to increase the S1 subunit production by inserting a termination sequence after the S1 subunit sequence. It was hoped that reading of the sequence would stop after the S1 sequence, disengage and go to the start of the sequence, thus eliminating the production of unwanted proteins. It was found that the phage expression system used did increase S1 subunit production. The insertion of the terminator to produce a new, more efficient construct, was not completed, so it remains unknown if this new construct would increase S1 subunit production.