클로닝된 Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki HDI 살충성 단백질 유전자의 대장균에서의 발현

황성희,차성철,유관희,이형환 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 1998 한국미생물·생명공학회지 Vol.26 No.6

Bacillus thurintensis subsp. kurstaki HD1 살충성 단백질 ICP 유전자가 있는 NdeI 단편 3.856 kb를 클로닝하여 제조한 pHLN2-80(-) 클론이 pHLN1-80(-)에 비해서 대장균에서 ICP발현량이 과다발현되는 현상을 규명하고자 하였다. 본 연구에서는 상기의 pHLN2-80(+) 클론의 발현량을 조절하는 원인을 규명하기 위하여 ICP의 아미노산 서열은 변화되지 않는 범위 내에서 pHLN1-80(+) 클론에 있는 Plac프로모터와 ICP유전자 프로모터의 일부인 -80 bp프로모터의 염기서열, 전사 개시점과 종결부위의 변이가 ICP유전자발현에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. pHLN1-80(+)에 5'-말단에 존재하는 -80 bp 프로모터만을 보유한 pHLNK-80 클론은 ICP 생산은 매우 저조하였다. Plac프로모터와 -80 bp 프로모터의 구조 골격을 일부 변이 시킨 pHLNF1-80클론의 ICP생산량은 pHLN2-80(-)가 생산한 양보다는 낮아서 과다발현이 안되었다. Plac프로모터 상류를 약 350bp을 제거하여 만든 클론 pHLND2-80의 ICP 생산량은 모클론인 pHLN2-80(-) 보다 매우 높게 과다발현 되었다. ICP 유전자의 과다발현 현상에 대한 전사 개시점과 전사종결 부위의 역할을 알아보기 위해서 -72bp ICP유전자프로모터를 갖는 클론 pHLD1-72는 재조합 클론 pHLN2-80(-)가 생산한 양보다 적은 양의 ICP을 생성하였고, 클론 pHLD2-72는 재조합 클론 pHLN2-80(-)보다 적은 ICP을 발현하여 과다 발현되었으며, 클론 pHLN2-72는 모클론인 pHLN2-80(-)보다 약간 높은 ICP 생산량을 보여 과다발현되었다. 클론 pHLN2-72를증식하여 파쇄액을 만든 후에 Bombyx mori유충에 대한 살충력 검사에서 클론 pHLN2-72이 생산한 ICP는 pHLN1-80(+)이 생산한 ICP보다 약 90배의 살충력을 보였다. SDS-PAGE와 Western blot 분석에서도 클론 pHLN2-72는 재조합 클론 pHLN2-80(-)보다 약간 높게 ICP가 생성이 되었었다. 이상의 결과는 과다발현에 Plac프로모터와 종결부위가 반드시 필요하며, -72 bp ICP 프로모터가 -80 bp 프로모터보다 과다발현률이 높았으며, ICP 유전자는 반드시 Plac프로모터의 전사 방향에 역방향으로 삽입이 되어야 하는 것으로 나타났다. The expression in Escherichia coli of a cloned insecticidal protein (ICP) gene from Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD1 in pHLN1-80 (+) and pHLN2-80(-) plasmids was investigated through deletions in promoters, transcription start point, and termination region. Six recombinant plasmids were constructed in an attempt to analyze the overexpression of the ICP in relations to its gene structure. The amounts of ICP produced from the recombinants were measured by SDS-PAGE and confirmed by Western blot analysis. One clone was not overexpressed which having only -80 bp (contained BtI promoter) part of the ICP gene promoter (without Plac promoter), the right-oriented ICP gene and the termination region. Removal of 350 bp from upstream region of the Plac of the clone pHLN2-80 (-) resulted in overexpression of the ICP. One clone was not overexpressed in which the clone consisted of -72 bp part of the ICP promoter without the transcription start point and the transcriptional termination region, and having the right-oriented ICP gene sequence. One clone consisting of the inverted ICP gene sequence, the -72 bp ICP gene promoter, and without the termination region caused overexpression. One clone which consisted of the inverted ICP gene, the -72 bp ICP gene promoter and the termination sequence was overexpressed. These results indicated that the Plac promoter, transcription termination region, the inverted ICP gene insertion, and the -80 bp or -72 bp part of the ICP gene promoters were concerned in the overexpression of the ICP gene in the recombinant plasmid, and also the overexpression mechanism might result from the disruption of the transcription-suppressing regions in the promoter regions.

유전자 상호발현 조절을 통한 에탄올 내성 메커니즘의 규명

정회명(Hoe-Myung Jung),최호정(Ho-Jung Choi),남수완(Soo-Wan Nam),전숭종(Sung-Jong Jeon),김연희(Yeon-Hee Kim) 한국생명과학회 2016 생명과학회지 Vol.26 No.1

에탄올은 산업적으로 매우 가치 있는 물질이지만, 효모세포에 있어서 에탄올의 축적은 세포 독성과 목적산물의 생산성을 감소시키는 스트레스원이다. 따라서 효모세포에 있어서 에탄올 내성의 증가는 에탄올 생산성 증대와 밀접한 관계가 있는 중요한 요소라고 할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 에탄올 내성을 증가시키기 위해 YDJ1과 PEP5 유전자를 목적 유전자로 선정하여 이들 유전자의 과발현과 과발현에 따른 상호발현조절을 분석하여 에탄올 내성 메커니즘의 일부를 해명하고자 한다. YDJ1과 PEP5 유전자를 ADH1 promoter 하류에 연결시켜 pA-YDJ1과 pA-PEP5 plasmid를 구축하고 각각 BY4742, BY4742△ydj1와 BY4742△pep5 균주에 도입하였다. YDJ1과 PEP5 유전자의 과발현에 의해서 BY4742△ydj1/pA-YDJ1과 BY4742△pep5/pA-PEP5 균주의 에탄올내성이 숙주세포의 수준까지 회복되었음을 확인 할 수 있었다. 이 두 유전자의 상호발현조절을 조사하기 위해, BY4742△ydj1△pep5 균주에서 YDJ1과 PEP5 유전자의 과발현을 시도해본 결과, BY4742△ydj1△pep5/pA-YDJ1, pA-PEP5 균주의 경우, 8% 에탄올 배지에서 BY4742 균주의 약 90%정도 까지 에탄올 내성이 회복됨을 확인하였다. BY4742△ydj1△pep5/pA-YDJ1, pA-PEP5 균주에서 YDJ1 유전자는 PEP5 유전자의 과발현을 더욱더 유도하여 에탄올 내성을 증가시켰으며, 이는 YDJ1 유전자가 PEP5 유전자의 상위에서 발현을 부분적으로 조절한다고 생각 할 수 있다. Ethanol is a very valuable material, however, it is also a source of stress, as the accumulation of ethanol in a medium inhibits cell viability and decreases productivity of the target product. Therefore, the ethanol tolerance of yeast, which is closely related to ethanol productivity, is an important factor in industrial ethanol production. In this study, the YDJ1 and PEP5 genes were selected as target genes for elucidating ethanol-tolerant mechanisms by analyzing the expression regulation of these genes. The pA-YDJ1 and pA-PEP5 plasmids containing YDJ1 and PEP5 genes under an ADH1 promoter, respectively, were constructed and transformed into BY4742 (host strain), BY4742△ydj1, and BY4742△pep5 strains. The ethanol tolerance in the BY4742△ydj1/ pA-YDJ1 and BY4742△pep5/pA-PEP5 transformants was restored by overexpression of the YDJ1 and PEP5 genes to the host strain level. The YDJ1 and PEP5 genes were also introduced into the double gene disruptant (BY4742△ydj1△pep5) to investigate the expression regulation of the YDJ1 and PEP5 genes. The simultaneous overexpression of the YDJ1 and PEP5 genes restored ethanol tolerance to the 90% level of the BY4742 strain under 8% ethanol stress. The YDJ1 gene induced more overexpression of the PEP5 gene in the BY4742△ydj1 △pep5/pA-YDJ1, pA-PEP5 strain, suggesting that the YDJ1 gene partially regulates the expression of the PEP5 gene as an upstream regulator.

해양의 Pseudomonas sp. 로부터 분리한 alginate lyase 유전자의 promoter에 의한 대장균 내에서의 \beta-agarase 유전자의 발현과 catabolite repression의 변화

공인수,박제현,한정현,최윤혁,이종희,진철호,이정기 한국미생물·생명공학회 2001 한국미생물·생명공학회지 Vol.29 No.2

Strong promoter로 밝혀진 alginate lyase 유전자의 promoter 부위에 대한 특성을 검토하기 위해 alginate lyase 유전자의 46개 N-terminal amino acid가 포함된 promoter 부분과, 같은 균으로부터 분리한 $\beta$-agarase의 유전자를 연결시켜 agarase의 activity를 평판배지상에서 보다 쉽게 확인하는 방법으로 promoter의 활성을 측정한 결과 alginate lyase 유전자 promoter에 의해서 $\beta$-agarase 유전자의 대량발현이 유도되고 있었으며 glucose의 존재하에서 $\beta$-agarase 유전자 발현이 일어나지 않는 catabolite repression 양상을 나타내고 있다. PCR로써 alginate lyase의 46개 N-terminal amino acid 부분이 순차적으로 제거된 plasmid를 제조하여 대량발현을 조사한 결과 46개의 아미노산이 제거된 후에도 $\beta$-agarase의 활성에는 변화가 없어 46개의 N-말단이 정상적인 상태에서 발현에는 영향을 미치고 있지 않음을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한 alginate lyase 유전자의 promoter region에 존재하는 가능한 2개의 promoter consensus sequence PI, PII를 subcloning한 결과 promoter PII만이 존재할 때도 대량발현이 유도되고 있음을 확인할 수 있었으며 동시에 glucose가 존재할 때 catabolite repression이 역시 나타나고 있어 이 부분이 발현 및 glucose에 의한 regulation에 매우 중요하게 작용하는 부분이라는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. Expression of f3 ~agarase Gene and Catabolite Repression in Escherichia coli by the Promoter of Alginate Lyase Gene Isolated from Marine Pseudomonas sp. Jin, Cheal~Ho, J~Hyeon Park, Jeong-Hyun Han, YoonM Hyeok Chae, Jong~Hee Lee, Jung-Kee Lee!, and In-800 Kong*. Faculty of Food Science and Biotechnology, Pukyong National UniversitYt Pusan 608-737, Korea, llnBioNet Co. 1690-3 Taejon 306-230, Korea - Promoter is a key factor for expression of the recombinant protein. There are many promoters for overexpression of protein in various organisms. The aly promoter of Pseudomonas sp. W7 isolated from marine environment was known to be a constitutive expression promoter of the alginate lyase gene, and it's promoter activity is repressed by glucose in Escherichia coli. To investigate the catabolite repression of the aly promoter ~md association between the promoter mutants, f3 agarase gene, which was also cloned from Pseudomonas sp. W7 was connected to the aly promoter with the sequence the coding 46 N-terminal amino acids ofthe alginate lyase gene. The constructed plasmid was introduced into E. coli and the agarase activity was measured. Fourty six amino acids of the alginate lyase gene was serially deleted using peR to the direction of 5' upstream region and subcloned. The agarase was overexpressed by the aly promoter and the production of agarase was repressed by the addition of glucose into culture media. Fourty six amino acids of alginate lyase did not affect the production of agarase at all. The deletion of a putative stem-loop structure in the aly promoter induced the decrease of f3 -agarase productivity.

Brevibacterium lactofermentum에서 ddh 유전자의 Overexpression이 $_L-Lysine$ 생산에 미치는 영향

박선희,김옥미,김현정,배준태,장종선,이갑랑,Park, Sun-Hee,Kim, Ok-Mi,Kim, Hyun-Jeong,Bae, Jun-Tae,Chang, Jong-Sun,Lee, Kap-Rang 한국식품과학회 1999 한국식품과학회지 Vol.31 No.1

$_L-Lysine$ 발효산업에 이용되고 있는 B. lactofermentum의 L-lysine 생합성은 succinylase 경로와 dehydrogenase 경로를 통하여 일어난다. 특히 lysine 생산 균주에 부가적으로 존재하는 dehydrogenase 경로는 lysine 생합성에 있어서 필수적인 경로로 작용하며 이때 meso-DAP-dehydrogenase (DDH)를 암호화하는 ddh gene이 관여한다. 그러므로 B. lactofermentum의 lysine 발효에 있어서 ddh gene의 over expression에 의한 lysine 생성량을 비교 조사하기 위하여, shuttle vector pEB1 및 pJC1으로 ddh gene을 삽입하여 재조합 plasmid pRK1 및 pRK31을 구축하였고 이를 B. lactofermentum으로 도입시켜 DDH 활성을 측정한 결과 pRK1을 함유한 균주는 대조균주보다 7배 정도, pRK31을 함유한 균주는 14배 정도 증가하였다. 또한 Shuttle vector를 함유한 대조균주와 재조합 plasmid를 함유한 균주간의 성장 비교에서는 서로 비슷한 수준을 나타내었으며 플라스크 배양에서 lysine 생성량의 비교 분석에서는 재조합 plasmid를 함유한 균주의 경우 48시간 이후부터 대조균주보다 lysine 생성량이 증가하기 시작하여 72시간때에는 최대치를 나타내었으며 그 이후는 오히려 감소하였다. 최대치를 나타낸 72시간 때의 lysine 생성량은 대조균주가 4.38g/L를 나타내었으며 pRK1 및 pRK31을 함유한 균주는 각각 5.34g/L 및 5.21 g/L이었다. 이상의 결과로 미루어 볼 때 B. lactofermentum내에서 ddh gene의 증폭에 의한 lysine 생성량은 pRK1 및 pRK31에서 대조균주보다 각각 20% 및 19% 증가하였다. 또한 발효조 배양에서의 lysine 생성량도 재조합 균주가 대조균주보다 23% 정도 증가를 나타내어 B. lactofermentum에서 ddh gene의 증폭으로 lysine 생성량이 증가하였음을 확인하였다. The ddh gene encoding meso-DAP-dehydrogenase (DDH) involved in the dehydrogenase pathway is essential for high-level lysine production in Brevibacterium lactofermentum. To investigate its influence on lysine production by overexpression of the ddh gene in a lysine-producing B. lactofermentum, recombinant plasmid pRK1 and pRK31 containing the ddh gene of B. lactofermentum were constructed and they were introduced into B. lactofermentum by electroporation. Multiple copies of pRK1 and pRK31 caused 7-fold and 14-fold increase of DDH activity in B. lactofermentum cell extracts, respectively. As determined in shake flask fermentation, lysine production of B. lactofermentum harboring pRK1 or pRK31 was 22% or 19% higher than that of the control, respectively.

Stable and enhanced gene expression in Clostridium acetobutylicum using synthetic untranslated regions with a stem-loop

Lee, J.,Jang, Y.S.,Papoutsakis, E.T.,Lee, S.Y. Elsevier Science Publishers 2016 Journal of biotechnology Vol.230 No.-

<P>Gene overexpression is one of the most basic strategies in metabolic engineering, but the factors determining gene expression levels have been poorly studied in Clostridium species. In this study, we found that a short single-stranded 5' untranslated region (UTR) sequence led to decreased gene expression in Clostridium acetobutylicum. Using an in vitro enzyme assay and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, we found that addition of a small stem-loop at the 5' end of mRNA increased mRNA levels and thereby protein expression levels up to 4.6-fold, possibly protecting mRNA from exonuclease attack. Gene-expression levels were apparently independent of the stability of the added stem-loop; the existence of a stem-loop itself appears to be more important. Our results indicate that efficient expression cassettes can be designed by taking the 5' UTR into consideration, as the expression levels can vary even though the same promoter and RBS are used. These findings will be useful for developing a more reliable gene expression system for metabolic engineering of Clostridium strains. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</P>

해양의 Pseudomonas sp. 로부터 분리한 alginate lyase 유전자의 promoter에 의한 대장균 내에서의 β-agarase 유전자의 발현과 catabolite repression의 변화

진철호,박제현,한정현,최윤혁,이종희,이정기,공인수 한국산업미생물학회 2001 한국미생물·생명공학회지 Vol.29 No.2

Strong promoter로 밝혀진 alginate lyase유전자의 promoter부위에 대한 특성을 검토하기 위해 alginate lyase유전자의 46개 N-terminal amino acid가 포함된 promoter부분과, 같은 균으로부터 분리한 β-agarase의 유전자를 연결시켜 agarase의 activity를 평판배지상에서 보다 쉽게 확인하는 방법으로 promoter의 활성을 측정한 결과 alginate lyase유전자 promoter에 의해서 β-agarase유전자의 대량발현이 유도되고 있었으며 glucose의 존재하에서 β-agarase유전자 발현이 일어나지 않는 catabolite repression양상을 나타내고 있다. PCR로써 alginate lyase 유전자의 promoter하류에 존재하는 alginate lyase의 46개 N-terminal amino acid 부분이 순차적으로 제거된 plasmid를 제조하여 대량발현을 조사한 결과 46개의 아미노산이 제거된 후에도 β-agarase의 활성에는 변화가 없어 46개의 N-말단이 정상적인 상태에서 발현에는 영향을 미치고 있지 않음을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한 alginate lyase유전자의 promoter region에 존재하는 가능한 2개의 promoter consensus sequence PⅠ, PⅡ를 subcloning한 결과 promoter PⅡ만이 존재할 때도 대량발현이 유도되고 있음을 확인할 수 있었으며 동시에 glucose가 존재할때 catabolite repression이 역시 나타나고 있어 이 부분이 발현 및 glucose에 의한 regulation에 매우 중요하게 작용하는 부분이라는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. Promoter is a key factor for expression of the recombinant protein. There many promoters for overexpression of protein in various organisms. The aly promoter of Pseudomonas sp. W7 isolated from marine environment was known to be a constitutive expression promoter of the alginate lyase gene, and it's promoter activity is repressed by glucose in Escherichia coli. To investigate the catabolite repression of the aly promoter and association between the promoter mutants, β-agarase gene, which was also cloned from Pseudomonas sp. W7 was connected to the aly promoter with the sequence the coding 46 N-terminal amino acids of the alginate lyase gene. The constructed plasmid was introduced into E. coli and the agarase activity was measured. Fourty six amino acids of the alginate lyase gene was serially deleted using PCR to the direction of 5' upstream region and subcloned. The agarase was overexpressed by the aly promoter and the production of agarase was repressed by the addition of glucose into culture media. Fourty six amino acids of alginate lyase did not affect the production of agarase at all. The deletion of a putative stem-loop structure in the aly promoter induced the decrease of β-agarase productivity.

Complete Nucleotide Sequence and Overexpression of cat₁ Gene Cluster, and Roles of the Putative Transcriptional Activator CatR1 in Acinetobacter lwoffii K24 Capable of Aniline Degradation

Kim, Seung Il,Yoo, Yong-Cheol,Kahng, Hyung-Yeel 제주대학교 기초과학연구소 2002 基礎科學硏究 Vol.15 No.1

The aniline-assimilating bacterium Acinetobacter lwoffiiK24 has two cat gene clusters (cat₁ and cat₂). In this study, we completely sequenced 10-kb DNA fragment of cat₁ genes of A. lwoffii K24, which had been cloned in plasmid pCDl 1. Sequence analysis revealed that the order of genes in the cat₁ operon-containing gene cluster was ORF porin, catR₁, catB₁C₁A₁D₁ ORF1, and ORF2. Two ORFs located immediately downstream catD were most similar with two ORFs in cat gene cluster of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus ADP1 but the gene structure of cat R₁B₁C₁A₁ was closest to that found in Frateurua sp. ANA 18 or Pseudomonas putida PRS2000. CatA₁ gene product was significantly overexperssed and detected in SDS-PAGE when four cat₁ genes (catB₁C₁A₁D) were placed under the control of a lac promoter in pUC118 while overexpressions of other cat genes were accomplished under the control of a lac promoter in pET vector system. All gene products were verified by N-terminal amino acid sequencing. Gel retardation assay revealed that the putative regulatory gene activator CatR₁ for the cat B₁C₁A₁ operon could bind the promoter region of catB₂ as well as catN₁, suggesting that transcription of catB₁ or catB₂ might be controlled by the putative gene activator CatR₁. However, the promoter regions of catA₁ and catA₂ were found to have no affinity with catR₁.

Overexpression of Reprogramming Factors on Porcine Stem cells Derived from Embryo

Tae-Yeong Park,Kwang-Hwan Choi,Dongchan Son,Dong-kyung Lee,Jong-Nam Oh,Seung-Hun Kim,Chang-Kyu Lee 한국수정란이식학회 2016 한국수정란이식학회 학술대회 Vol.2016 No.10

It is still challenging to establish pESCs due to differences in the genetic backgrounds of mouse, human, and pig. So it is required to find pig specific pluripotency markers and cellular signaling. In this experiments, doxycycline-inducible vectors carrying OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, KLF4 and MYC known as reprogramming factors, were infected into pig stem cells for analyzing gene expression pattern. When cultured without doxycycline, pig stem cells were stably maintained in bFGF supplemented media. However, when treated with doxycycline, pig stem cells lost alkaline phosphatase activity and were differentiated within two weeks. And then, we investigated the expression of genes related to pluripotency in doxycycline-treated pig stem cells by using qRT-PCR. The qRT-PCR data revealed that expression of OCT4, CDH1 and FUT4 were significantly increased by OCT4 overexpression and OCT4 and FUT4 were also upregulated in SOX2-infected group. When infected with combination of two factors including OCT4 or SOX2, some groups could stably maintain at LIF supplemented media, having alkaline phosphatase activity. Given these data, although ectopic gene expression induced differentiation in pig stem cells, ectopic expression of OCT4 and SOX2 could upregulate pluripotent genes and overexpreession of two factors help pig stem cells adapt LIF-contained media. This study could improve understanding of pluripotent networks as well as aid in establishing bona fide pluripotent stem cells in pig.

Differentially Expressed Genes in Period 2-Overexpressing Mice Striatum May Underlie Their Lower Sensitivity to Methamphetamine Addiction-Like Behavior

( Leandro Val Sayson ),( Mikyung Kim ),( Se Jin Jeon ),( Raly James Perez Custodio ),( Hyun Jun Lee ),( Darlene Mae Ortiz ),( Jae Hoon Cheong ),( Hee Jin Kim ) 한국응용약물학회 2022 Biomolecules & Therapeutics(구 응용약물학회지) Vol.30 No.3

Previous reports have demonstrated that genetic mechanisms greatly mediate responses to drugs of abuse, including methamphetamine (METH). The circadian gene Period 2 (Per2) has been previously associated with differential responses towards METH in mice. While the behavioral consequences of eliminating Per2 have been illustrated previously, Per2 overexpression has not yet been comprehensively described; although, Per2-overexpressing (Per2 OE) mice previously showed reduced sensitivity towards METH-induced addiction-like behaviors. To further elucidate this distinct behavior of Per2 OE mice to METH, we identified possible candidate biomarkers by determining striatal differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in both drug-naïve and METH-treated Per2 OE mice relative to wild-type (WT), through RNA sequencing. Of the several DEGs in drug naïve Per2 OE mice, we identified six genes that were altered after repeated METH treatment in WT mice, but not in Per2 OE mice. These results, validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, could suggest that the identified DEGs might underlie the previously reported weaker METH-induced responses of Per2 OE mice compared to WT. Gene network analysis also revealed that Asic3, Hba-a1, and Rnf17 are possibly associated with Per2 through physical interactions and predicted correlations, and might potentially participate in addiction. Inhibiting the functional protein of Asic3 prior to METH administration resulted in the partial reduction of METH-induced conditioned place preference in WT mice, supporting a possible involvement of Asic3 in METH-induced reward. Although encouraging further investigations, our findings suggest that these DEGs, including Asic3, may play significant roles in the lower sensitivity of Per2 OE mice to METH.

Cloning and Overexpression of Methylcatechol 2, 3-Dioxygenase Gene from Toluene-Degrading Pseudomonas putida mt-2(pWWO)

Lee, Jeong-Rai,Min, Kyung-Rak,Kim, Young-Soo The Pharmaceutical Society of Korea 1992 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.15 No.4

Methylcatechol 2, 3-dioxygenase encoded in pWWO megaplasmid of Pseudomonas putida mt-2 has been cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. This enzyme gene has been localized inside 2. 3-kb XhoI fragment derived from the pWWO megaplasmid. Analysis of enzyme activity and SDS-PAGE showed that the cloned methylcatechol 2, 3-dioxygenase gene in E. coli was about 100 fold overexpressed compared with the parental gene in P. putida mt-2 (pWWO). The cloned enzyme exhibited higher ring-fission activity to catechol than catechol derivatives including 3-methylcatechol, 4-methylcatechol, and 4-chlorocatechol.