A Food-Grade System for Inducible Gene Expression in Lactobacillus plantarum Using an Alanine Racemase-Encoding Selection Marker

Food-grade gene expression systems for lactic acid bacteria are useful for applications in the food industry. We describe a new food-grade host/vector system for Lactobacillus plantarum based on pSIP expression vectors and the use of the homologous alanine racemase gene (air) as selection marker. A new series of expression vectors were constructed by exchanging the erythromycin resistance gene (erm) in pSIP vectors by the L. plantarum WCFS1 air gene. The vectors were applied for the overexpression of beta-galactosidase genes from L. reuteri L103 and L. plantarum WCFS1 in an air deletion mutant of L. plantarum WCFS1. The expression levels obtained in this way, i.e. without the use of antibiotics, were comparable to the levels obtained with the conventional system based on selection for erythromycin resistance. The new system is suitable for the production of ingredients and additives for the food industry.