Cloning and expression of a functional rat liver D-β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase-β-galactosidase fusion protein in Escherichia coli

Abstract

A rat liver bacteriophage λ expression library was probed using polyclonal antibodies raised to purified rat liver D-β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (BDH). A clone was selected that contained a 1.2-kb insert. The insert placed in an expression plasmid was utilized to transform Escherichia coli. These cells were shown to possess phosphatidylcholine-dependent BDH activity. Cells transformed with only the plasmid had no detectable BDH activity in the presence of phosphatidylcholine. The expressed activity in E. coli could be inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by BDH antiserum.Key words: D-β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, cloning, expression.