PCR-targeted Streptomyces gene replacement

identifies a protein domain needed for biosynthesis

of the sesquiterpene soil odor geosmin
Bertolt Gust*†, Greg L. Challis‡, Kay Fowler*§, Tobias Kieser*, and Keith F. Chater*
*Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom; and ‡Department of Chemistry,
University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom

Communicated by Richard M. Losick, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, December 12, 2002 (received for review October 23, 2002)

Streptomycetes are high GⴙC Gram-positive, antibiotic-producing, jugants with the desired gene replacement. The strategy also
mycelial soil bacteria. The 8.7-Mb Streptomyces coelicolor genome allows the elimination of the disruption cassette by FLP-
was previously sequenced by using an ordered library of Supercos-1 recombinase-mediated site-specific recombination (11).
clones. Here, we describe an efficient procedure for creating precise In a demonstration of the utility of this PCR-targeting method
gene replacements in the cosmid clones by using PCR targeting and for the rapid construction of S. coelicolor knockout mutants, we
␭-Red-mediated recombination. The cloned Streptomyces genes are set out to identify genes involved in the biosynthesis of the
replaced with a cassette containing a selectable antibiotic resistance secondary metabolite geosmin. Many actinomycetes (12–14),
and oriTRK2 for efficient transfer to Streptomyces by RP4-mediated certain cyanobacteria (15), myxobacteria, liverworts (16), and
intergeneric conjugation. Supercos-1 does not replicate in Strepto- higher fungi (17) that inhabit aquatic or soil environments
myces, but the clones readily undergo double-crossover recombina- produce geosmin, which can impart an undesirable earthy
tion, thus creating gene replacements. The antibiotic resistance cas- or musty odor to food and water supplies (18, 19). The very
settes are flanked by yeast FLP recombinase target sequences for ubiquitousness of geosmin, especially among streptomycetes,
removal of the antibiotic resistance and oriTRK2 to generate un- suggests that it has adaptive importance, but this remains
marked, nonpolar mutations. The technique has been used success- unidentified at present. To the best of our knowledge, no genes
fully by >20 researchers to mutate around 100 Streptomyces genes. that direct geosmin biosynthesis in any of these organisms have
As an example, we describe its application to the discovery of a gene been identified. In streptomycetes, geosmin has been postulated
involved in the production of geosmin, the ubiquitous odor of soil. to be synthesized from farnesyl pyrophosphate by means of a
The gene, Sco6073 (cyc2), codes for a protein with two sesquiterpene eudesmanoid or germacranoid sesquiterpene precursor (20).
synthase domains, only one of which is required for geosmin If so, an early step in geosmin biosynthesis should involve a
biosynthesis, probably via a germacra-1 (10) E,5E-dien-11-ol interme- sesquiterpene synthase. Two genes, here designated cyc1 and
diate generated by the sesquiterpene synthase from farnesyl cyc2, encoding enzymes showing similarity to the sesquiterpene
pyrophosphate. synthase that carries out a cyclization reaction involved in
pentalenolactone synthesis in Streptomyces UC5319 (21), were
FLP recombinase 兩 lambda Red recombinase 兩 oriT 兩 SCO5222 兩 SCO6073 found in the S. coelicolor genome sequence. Here, we use
PCR targeting and transposon mutagenesis to show that one of
these two genes and only one of the two protein domains
T he recently completed 8.7-Mb Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)
genome sequence (1) has revealed a wealth of information.
Notably, about 400 kb (more than 20 gene clusters) are appar-
encoded by that gene are essential for geosmin biosynthesis. The
accompanying paper by Cane and Watt (22) in this issue of
ently concerned with secondary metabolites. Predicted gene PNAS describes biochemical analysis of the protein encoded by
products include type I modular and type I and type II iterative this gene.
polyketide synthases, chalcone synthases, nonribosomal peptide
synthetases, terpene synthases, and genes with functions that are Materials and Methods
less well understood. Mutational analysis can provide a signifi- Strains and Culture Conditions. Media and culture conditions for
cant insight into the functions of these genes. E. coli and S. coelicolor were the same as those described (2, 3).
Here, we describe the adaptation to S. coelicolor of a PCR Strains are listed in Table 1. E. coli BW25113 (2) was used to
targeting-based gene disruption protocol (2) that permits the propagate the recombination plasmid pIJ790 and S. coelicolor
deletion of entire gene clusters for secondary metabolism and cosmids (10). E. coli DH5␣ carrying pCP20 (designated BT340) was
allows relatively rapid generation of nonpolar, in-frame dele- used for FLP-mediated site-specific recombination (2). Both strains
tions, thus avoiding polar effects on genes transcriptionally (CGSC#7636 and CGSC#7629, respectively) were obtained from
downstream. This procedure is much more efficient than those the Escherichia coli Genetic Stock Center (Yale University, New
previously used to disrupt Streptomyces genes (3). Our approach Haven, CN). BW25113 and BT340 were grown in SOB or LB,
BIOCHEMISTRY

was based on the discovery that allelic exchanges on the Esch- respectively. E. coli DH5␣ (Stratagene) was used as a host for
erichia coli chromosome can be achieved by recombination with plasmid constructions. E. coli ET12567兾pUZ8002 (23) was the
a PCR-generated selectable marker flanked at both ends by nonmethylating plasmid donor strain for intergeneric conjugation
extensions of only a few tens of nucleotides homologous to the with S. coelicolor strain M145 (1). Carbenicillin (Carb, 100 ␮g兾ml),
desired region of the chromosome, when the Red␣ (exo), Red␤ apramycin (Apra, 50 ␮g兾ml), chloramphenicol (Cm, 25 ␮g兾ml),
(bet), and Red␥ (gam) proteins of the phage ␭ are present in the
targeted strain (4–9). We have used ␭-Red to promote recom-
bination in E. coli between a PCR-amplified antibiotic resistance Abbreviations: FRT, FLP-recombinase recognition target; Carb, carbenicillin; Apra, apra-
mycin; Cm, chloramphenicol; Kan, kanamycin; Vio, viomycin; R, resistance; S, sensitivity;
cassette selectable in E. coli and Streptomyces, and S. coelicolor Strep, streptomycin; Spec, spectinomycin; oriT, origin of transfer; GC-MS, gas chromatog-
DNA on a cosmid from the set used to sequence the S. coelicolor raphy–MS.
genome (10). The inclusion of an origin of transfer (oriT; RK2) †To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bertolt.gust@bbsrc.ac.uk.
in the disruption cassette allows the conjugal transfer of the §Presentaddress: Division of Food Safety Science, Institute of Food Research, Norwich
PCR-targeted cosmid into S. coelicolor, readily yielding excon- NR4 7UA, United Kingdom.

www.pnas.org兾cgi兾doi兾10.1073兾pnas.0337542100 PNAS 兩 February 18, 2003 兩 vol. 100 兩 no. 4 兩 1541–1546

 Table 1. Strains and plasmids used in this study
Strain兾plasmid Relevant genotype兾comments Source兾ref.

Plasmids
pKD20 ␭-RED (gam, bet, exo), bla, araC, rep101ts 2
pCP20 FLP-recombination plasmid: flp, bla, cat, rep101ts 11
pIJ666 Source of cat gene for pIJ790 24
pOJ436 Source of ApraR oriT sequence for pIJ773 25
pIJ790 ␭-RED (gam, bet, exo), cat, araC, rep101ts This study
pIJ773 aac(3)IV (ApraR) ⫹ oriT This study
pIJ778 aadA from ⍀-fragment (SpecR, StrepR) ⫹ oriT This study
pIJ779 aadA from ⍀-fragment (SpecR, StrepR) This study
pIJ780 vph from ⍀-fragment (VioR) ⫹ oriT This study
pIJ781 vph from ⍀-fragment (VioR) This study
Supercos-1 bla, neo, cos Stratagene
pUZ8002 tra, neo, RP4 23
pUB307 neo, RP4 30
pSET⍀ aadA, oriT, attP, int 31
E. coli
BW25113 K12 derivative: ⌬araBAD, ⌬rhaBAD 2
ET12567 dam, dcm, hsdS, cat, tet 29
BT340 DH5␣兾pCP20 11
S. coelicolor
M145 SCP1⫺, SCP2⫺ 1
KF62 cyc1⬋Tn4560 insertion at aa position 75 This study
J3001 ⌬cyc2: aa 2–725 replaced with pIJ773 cassette This study
J3002 cyc1⬋Tn4560,⌬cyc2 This study
J3003 ⌬cyc2scar: aa 2–725 replaced with scar sequence This study
J3004 cyc2⌬N: aa 6–340 replaced with scar sequence This study
J3005 cyc2⌬C: aa 380–721 replaced with scar sequence This study
J3006 cyc1⬋Tn4560,cyc2⌬N This study
J3007 cyc1⬋Tn4560,cyc2⌬C This study

kanamycin (Kan, 50 ␮g兾ml) or viomycin (Vio, 30 ␮g兾ml), all from from RK2 were jointly amplified from pOJ436 (25) with primers
Sigma, were added to growth media when required. Vio is currently apraforw and oriTrev (Table 2). FLP recognition target (FRT)
available only from Research Diagnostics (Flanders, NJ). L- sites and priming sites were then added to the resulting 1,246-bp
arabinose (10 mM final concentration; Sigma) was added as indi- fragment by amplification of left and right ends of the disruption
cated to SOB medium from a 1 M sterile filtered stock solution to cassette separately by PCR before joining them by XhoI diges-
induce genes under control of the pBAD promoter (2). tion and ligation. The final disruption cassette was further cloned
into the EcoRV site of pBluescript II SK(⫹) (Stratagene) to
Plasmids. The ampicillin resistance marker bla on pKD20 (in generate pIJ773 (Table 1). aadA (spectinomycin-resistance and
strain CGSC#7636) was replaced by cat (CmR) amplified from streptomycin-resistance: SpecR, StrepR) and vph (VioR) were
pIJ666 (24) with primers catforw and catrev (Table 2), thus amplified from the omega fragments (accession nos. M60473
generating pIJ790 (Table 1). The PCR product contained cat, and X99314), and aac (3)IV (ApraR) of pIJ773 was replaced with
with its own promoter, flanked by 40 bp of homology to regions the PCR products by ␭-Red-mediated recombination, generat-
adjacent to bla. CmR colonies were tested for ampicillin or Carb ing pIJ778 and pIJ780, respectively (Table 1). Disruption cas-
sensitivity. The relevant plasmid structure was confirmed by settes without oriT were constructed directly by PCR by using the
restriction analysis. omega fragments as templates and inserted into the EcoRV site
The gene disruption cassette aac (3)IV (ApraR) and the oriT of pBluescript II SK(⫹), generating pIJ779 (SpecR, StrepR) and

Table 2. PCR primers used in this study (from Invitrogen)

Primer name Generation of Sequence (5⬘–3⬘)

catforw pIJ790 ATGAGTATTCAACATTTCCGTGTCGCCCTTATTCCCTTTtcgggcacgtaagaggttcc

catrev pIJ790 TTACCAATGCTTAATCAGTGAGGCACCTATCTCAGCGAttaagggcaccaataactgc
apraforw pIJ773 tcatgagctcagccaatc
oriTrev pIJ773 cgccagcctcgcagagcag
Sc9B1.20forw cyc2 deletion CGGCGGATGCGGTCGAAGAGCCCTGGGTAGGGCCGGGCCattccggggatccgtcgacc
Sc9B1.20rev cyc2 deletion CGAGCCACGAAAGAGTGAGACTGAACGTCCGTCAGCGCGtgtaggctggagctgcttc
Sc9B1.20⌬Nforw cyc2⌬N deletion AGCCCTGGGTAGGGCCGGGCCATGACGCAACAGCCCTTCattccggggatccgtcgacc
Sc9B1.20⌬Nrev cyc2⌬N deletion GAGCAGTGCTCCCACGTCCGCCGCGGAGGTGCCGGGCCCtgtaggctggagctgcttc
Sc9B1.20⌬Cforw cyc2⌬C deletion GTGCCCTTCCAGAAGGTCGGCCCGTCCGTCATCCCCGACattccggggatccgtcgacc
Sc9B1.20⌬Crev cyc2⌬C deletion CAGTGAACGTCCGTCAGCGCGTCAGTGCGTCAGTGCGGGtgtaggctggagctgcttc

The 3⬘ homology of primers catforw and catrev to the cat gene of pIJ666 and the unique priming sites P1 and P2 of the disruption
cassettes are underlined. The oligonucleotides have 39 nt of homology (uppercase) to the relevant gene. Start and stop codons within
the 39-nt primer extension are bold.

1542 兩 www.pnas.org兾cgi兾doi兾10.1073兾pnas.0337542100 Gust et al.

pIJ781 (VioR), respectively (Table 1). All template plasmids Hewlett-Packard mass spectrometer HP 5989 A) (26). Volatiles
contain the same FRT and priming sites, which were verified by released from S. coelicolor during 2 weeks’ growth on MS plates
sequencing. at 30°C were adsorbed onto 100 mg of activated charcoal placed
in the lid of each petri dish. The charcoal was extracted with
Gene Replacement on Cosmids. Electro-competent cells of an E. coli 1 ml of chloroform (Sigma), which was then filtered through
BW25113 transformant carrying pIJ790 (CmR) and the desired S. cotton wool. Five microliters of each extract was analyzed by
coelicolor cosmid (CarbR, KanR) containing the gene to be targeted GC-MS as follows: capillary column, fused silica (30 m; 0.25-mm
were prepared from a 10-ml SOB culture containing 10 mM inside diameter; 0.25-␮m film thickness); carrier gas, He (0.82
L-arabinose to induce the ␭-red genes. The culture (30°C, OD600 ⬇ kPa on column injection); temperature program: isothermal for
0.4) was immediately washed twice with ice-cold 10% glycerol and 1 min at 40°C, change from 40 to 210°C at a rate of 10°C per min,
resuspended in the remaining drop of 10% glycerol after centrif- and isothermal for 25 min at 210°C; energy of ionization, 70 eV.
ugation, resulting in a 100-fold concentration of cells. Electro- The presence of geosmin in the samples was confirmed by
competent cells (50 ␮l) were transformed with 100 ng purified PCR comparison with synthetic (⫾)-geosmin (Sigma).
product in a 0.2-cm ice-cold electroporation chamber by using a
Bio-Rad GenePulser II set to 200 ⍀, 25 ␮F, and 2.5 kV. Shocked Results
cells were incubated in 1 ml of LB at 37°C for 1 h and plated on LB Adaptation of PCR Targeting for S. coelicolor. The ␭-Red expression
containing Kan and Carb (to select the cosmid) and Apra (to select plasmid pKD20 (2) could not be used with the S. coelicolor
the integrated PCR product). Transformants were characterized by Supercos-1 clones because both contain the bla gene, preventing
restriction analysis and PCR with a set of oligonucleotides priming selection and providing sequence identity for undesirable cointe-
outside the region of recombination. grate formation by homologous recombination. Thus, the bla
PCR products were obtained by amplification of the twice gene was replaced by cat (CmlR) to give pIJ790. Like pKD20,
gel-purified 1,383-bp EcoRI兾HindIII pIJ773 disruption cassette pIJ790 expressed ␭-Red when induced by arabinose and was
with the appropriate primer pairs containing 39-nt extensions for compatible with the ColE1-derived Supercos-1.
␭-Red-mediated recombination (Table 2). Amplification was For the disruption of genes cloned in Supercos-1 and the
performed in a 50-␮l reaction with 100 ng of template DNA, 200 efficient transfer of the mutant derivatives to S. coelicolor, a gene
␮M dNTPs, 50 pmol each primer, 5% DMSO, according to the replacement cassette (ApraRoriT) containing aac (3)IV (ApraR)
manufacturer’s instructions (Expand High Fidelity Polymerase, and oriTRK2 was constructed in pBluescript II SK(⫹) (Fig. 1A).
Roche Molecular Biochemicals): denaturation at 94°C for 2 min, ApraR and KanR (encoded by neo of Supercos-1) can be selected
then 10 cycles with denaturation at 94°C for 45 s, annealing at independently in both E. coli and S. coelicolor. The ApraRoriT
50°C for 45 s, and extension at 72°C for 1 min 30 s, were followed cassette is flanked at both ends by FRT sequences to allow
by 15 cycles with the annealing temperature increased to 55°C. efficient removal of ApraR and oriT by yeast FLP recombinase
A last elongation step was done at 72°C for 5 min. The PCR (Fig. 1 F–H). The template for the cassette amplification was the
product was analyzed by gel electrophoresis and purified by using 1,383-bp EcoRI兾HindIII fragment of pIJ773, which was twice
a PCR Purification kit (Qiagen, Chatsworth, CA). purified by agarose gel electrophoresis to eliminate all traces of
the intact plasmid. Without this precaution, ApraR colonies
Allelic Exchange in S. coelicolor. The KanR, CarbR, and ApraR without the desired gene replacement predominated among the
mutagenized cosmids were introduced into E. coli ET12567兾 transformants in the next step.
pUZ8002 by electroporation as above and then transferred to For generation of multiple gene disruptions on either a
Streptomyces by conjugation (3). ApraR exconjugants were screened different or the same S. coelicolor cosmid, cassettes similar to the
for KanS, indicating a double-crossover allelic exchange in S. ApraRoriT cassette containing aadA (SpecR兾StrepR) or vph
coelicolor, and were confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analysis. (VioR) instead of aac (3)IV, both with and without oriT, were
also constructed (Table 1). All of these cassettes contain the
In-Frame Deletion Mediated by FLP Recombinase. pCP20 (CarbR, same priming sequences for PCR amplification and leave the
CmR) shows temperature-sensitive replication and thermoinduc- same ‘‘scar’’ sequence after FLP recombinase-mediated exci-
ible expression of the FLP recombinase, which acts on FRT sites to sion. Other cassette constructs with different resistance genes
remove the central part of the disruption cassette, leaving behind (not shown) failed to give the desired gene replacements because
an 81-bp ‘‘scar’’ sequence (2). Electro-competent E. coli DH5␣兾 they recombined preferentially with Supercos-1 sequences.
pCP20 cells were transformed with the targeted cosmid DNA; CmR In designing primers for PCR amplification, we took into account
and ApraR transformants were selected on LB at 30°C. A few that ␭-Red-mediated recombination frequencies approach their
colonies were single colony-purified nonselectively at 42°C. Twenty maximum levels with a 40-bp targeting sequence (27). We used 39
to fifty percent of the colonies lost ApraR and pCP20 (CmR) bp rather than 40 bp because it comprises an integral number of
simultaneously. Cosmid DNA containing the in-frame deletion was codons, simplifying primer design. The 39-bp targeting sequence
then introduced into the S. coelicolor mutant carrying the marked ‘‘tails’’ were supplied as the 5⬘ ends of long PCR primers, whose 3⬘
deletion in the gene of interest by polyethylene glycol (PEG)- ends consisted of 19- or 20-bp priming sequences (Fig. 1 A). The
mediated transformation (3). Selecting for single cross-over events 39-bp 5⬘ target sequence tails were designed to generate ‘‘scar’’
BIOCHEMISTRY

with Kan (the neo gene of SuperCos1 confers KanR in Streptomyces) sequences that were in a reading frame that lacked in-frame stop
and subsequent screening for the loss of both KanR and the codons. A Perl program (JIC㛭GC㛭BMW) is available to assist in the
resistance derived from the marked deletion in the S. coelicolor primer design and in the analysis of the mutants generated (http://
mutant indicated the successful replacement of the resistance jic-bioinfo.bbsrc.ac.uk/S.coelicolor/).
marker with an unmarked, in-frame deletion. Alternatively to the
PEG-mediated transformation procedure, the cosmid containing Disruptions of cyc2. Replacement of cyc2 in cosmid Sc9B1 (see
the in-frame deletion can be made conjugation-proficient by re- below) was achieved by introducing a PCR-amplified, tailed gene
placing its neo gene with the VioRoriT (pIJ780) or SpecR,StrepRoriT disruption cassette ApraRoriT by electroporation into E. coli
(pIJ778) cassette by ␭-Red-mediated recombination. BW25113兾pIJ790 containing Sc9B1 (Fig. 1B), prepropagated at
30°C in the presence of 10 mM arabinose to induce the ␭-Red
Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Analysis. Qualita- genes on pIJ790. About 250 ApraR, CarbR, KanR colonies were
tive analysis was performed by coupled GC-MS (Hewlett- obtained (Fig. 1C). These colonies were CmS because the
Packard gas chromatograph HP 5890 series II coupled with a temperature-sensitive pIJ790 was lost during cultivation at 37°C.

Gust et al. PNAS 兩 February 18, 2003 兩 vol. 100 兩 no. 4 兩 1543
 The ApraRoriT cassette which replaced cyc2 in cosmid Sc9B1
was flanked by 28,085 bp and 3735 bp of S. coelicolor DNA. [Note
that the EMBL entry for Sc9B1, accession no. AL049727, does
not show the entire cosmid sequence; complete (real) cosmid
sequences are available from ftp://ftp.sanger.ac.uk/pub/
S㛭coelicolor/cosmid㛭inserts.]
The next step was to introduce the mutant allele into Streptomy-
ces. Because S. coelicolor A3(2), like some other streptomycetes,
strongly restrict methylated DNA from wild-type E. coli K12, the
plasmid DNA had to be passed through a nonmethylating host. We
used ET12567兾pUZ8002 for this purpose, because the plasmid
supplies transacting functions for the mobilization of oriT-
containing cosmids (3, 23, 29). Cosmid DNA from the above
ApraR, CarbR, KanR transformants was introduced by electropo-
ration into ET12567兾pUZ8002. By using 100 ng CCC DNA, ⬇100
ApraR, CmR, KanR transformants were recovered after 24 h of
incubation at 37°C. The low transformation frequency and the long
time required for visible colonies to develop were typical for this
strain (note that the KanR selective marker of pUZ8002 becomes
ineffectual in the presence of the similarly marked Supercos-1).
As an alternative to electroporation, mutant cosmids containing
oriT could also be introduced into ET12567 by RP4 tra-mediated
mobilization. BW25113 containing the self-transmissible pUB307
instead of the transfer-deficient pUZ8002 was used for this purpose
(30). ET12567 contains chromosomal tetracycline resistance and
CmR markers to counterselect E. coli BW25113.
Once in Streptomyces, Supercos-1 does not replicate auto-
nomously, but the long regions of sequence identity in the inserts
Fig. 1. Strategy for gene replacement in Streptomyces. (A) A gene replacement promote efficient integration by homologous recombination.
cassette containing aac (3)IV (ApraR), oriT of RK2, and two FRT sites was amplified Thus, intergeneric conjugation between ET12567兾pUZ8002兾
by PCR by using primers containing 39-nt 5⬘ homology extensions corresponding Sc9B1::ApraRoriT and S. coelicolor M145 produced ⬇104–105
to regions flanking the S. coelicolor target gene (dotted lines a and b) and 20-nt ApraR colonies per conjugation. Most of these colonies were also
3⬘ homology to the unique priming sites P1 and P2 of the disruption cassette. (B) KanR and presumably contained the entire plasmid integrated into
The PCR product from A was used to transform E. coli BW25113兾pIJ790 (express- the chromosome by a single crossover event. However, a sizable
ing the ␭-Red recombination functions), containing the Supercos-1 cosmid with
minority (⬎10%) were KanS, indicating double-crossover gene
the cloned target gene (cyc2). (C) ApraR transformants were selected, and the
recombinant cosmid was identified by PCR and restriction analysis. (D) The potent
replacement and loss of the Supercos-1 vector (Fig. 1 D and E). In
methyl-specific restriction system of S. coelicolor was circumvented by introduc- the case of the cyc2 replacement, this finding was verified by PCR
ing the recombinant cosmid into the methylation-deficient E. coli host ET12567兾 and Southern blot analysis for three independent ApraR KanS S.
pUZ8002. The cosmid was mobilized in trans by pUZ8002 to Streptomyces by coelicolor exconjugants.
conjugation. (E) Selected exconjugants (ApraR) were screened for KanS (loss of the
Kan resistance gene neo), and the double cross-over allelic exchange was con- The cyc2 Gene Is Essential for Geosmin Production. One of the best
firmed by PCR and Southern blot analysis. (F) E. coli DH5␣ cells containing pCP20 known characteristics of streptomycetes is their production of
were transformed with the mutagenized cosmid DNA, and FLP synthesis was the earthy odor geosmin, which is thought to be derived by the
induced. (G) The loss of the disruption resistance marker was tested, and the
action of a sesquiterpene synthase on farnesyl pyrophosphate,
cosmid was introduced by polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated transformation
into the S. coelicolor mutant carrying a marked deletion within the gene of
which in turn is synthesized via the mevalonate pathway. S.
interest. (H) KanR transformants arising from single cross-over events were re- coelicolor contains homologues of the genes needed for farnesyl
streaked nonselectively and screened for the loss of both KanR and ApraR, pyrophosphate synthesis, as well as two homologues, cyc1
indicating a successful replacement by the in-frame deletion marked only by a (SCO5222) and cyc2 (SCO6073), of the gene for a known
‘‘scar’’ sequence of 81 bp containing priming sites P1 and P2 (underlined), and one sesquiterpene synthase (pentalenene synthase, which is involved
FRT site. in pentalenolactone synthesis) from Streptomyces UC5319 (21).
The cyc1 product (Cyc1) contains one conserved sesquiterpene
synthase domain, and the cyc2 product (Cyc2) contains two such
No ApraR transformants were obtained when arabinose was domains (Fig. 2). cyc2 was replaced by ApraRoriT in both S.
omitted or when a different cosmid without cyc2 was substituted coelicolor M145 (generating J3001, Table 1) and an M145
for Sc9B1. Agarose gel analysis of digested plasmid DNA from derivative, KF62, containing a Tn4560 insertion in cyc1 (gener-
these transformants revealed in most cases mixtures of the ating J3002, Table 1). The wild type and the cyc1 mutant
original cosmid clone and the expected mutant cosmids. The produced amounts of geosmin easily detectable by GC-MS
mutant cosmid constituted between 10% and 90% of the plasmid (GC-retention time and MS-fragmentation pattern were iden-
DNA. [Note that even ApraR, CarbR, KanR clones containing tical to those of authentic geosmin). In contrast, no geosmin was
only a minority of the desired mutant cosmids were still useful detectable in the cyc2 mutant (Table 3).
for introducing the mutation into Streptomyces (see below).] It was possible that the putative integral membrane protein
The high precision of the recombination occurring between gene SCO6074, downstream of cyc2 (Fig. 2), might have been
39-bp sequences was more extensively documented in experi- inactivated by polar effects from the insertion of the ApraRoriT
ments with another gene, whiI (28). Cosmid DNA samples from cassette. To eliminate such polar effects, the ApraRoriT se-
50 transformants were all shown to contain the desired gene quence was removed by FLP-mediated recombination from the
replacement both by restriction analysis and by PCR, using mutant Sc9B1 cosmid. PCR amplification and sequencing con-
primers annealing 100 bp outside the 39-bp tail sequences. Gene firmed that the expected ‘‘scar’’ sequence without any in-frame
replacement was maximal with 100 ng of the tailed PCR product. stop codons had been generated.

1544 兩 www.pnas.org兾cgi兾doi兾10.1073兾pnas.0337542100 Gust et al.

Fig. 2. Sesquiterpene synthase homologues cyc1 and cyc2 of S. coelicolor. (A) Flanking genes and their proposed functions. The stop codon of cyc1 overlaps
the start of SCO5223, suggesting the possibility of translational coupling of the two genes. SCO5223 encodes a cytochrome P450 enzyme that catalyzes sterol
14␣-demethylation (35). cyc2 is flanked by SCO6072, encoding a 666-aa protein of unknown function, and SCO6074, encoding a 203-aa protein annotated as
a possible integral membrane protein. (B) CLUSTALX alignment of Cyc1 and the N- and C-terminal domains of Cyc2 (Cyc2N, Cyc2C) to the 337-aa sequence of the
pentalenene synthase (PS) from Streptomyces UC5319 reveals two conserved terpenoid synthase motifs. The residues Asp-80, Asp-81, and Asp-84 within the
sequence 76FFLFDDLFD of pentalenene synthase are believed to form an Mg2⫹-binding site (36). Mg2⫹ is required to facilitate pyrophosphate departure in the first
step of the cyclization reaction. Cyc1 contains all three conserved aspartate residues, whereas both the N- and the C-terminal domains of Cyc2 contain only the
first two aspartate residues. Residues within a second sequence of pentalenene synthase (217LLNDIASLEKE) are also thought to be associated with binding of
Mg2⫹ ions and are conserved in Cyc1 and both domains of Cyc2.

Sc9B1 containing the scar-marked cyc2 deletion had only the Only the Amino-Terminal Sesquiterpene Synthase Domain of Cyc2 Is
KanR encoded by Supercos-1 for selection in Streptomyces and Required for Geosmin Biosynthesis. cyc2 contains two sesquiter-
lacked oriT. After passage through E. coli ET12567, the plasmid pene synthase-like domains. To find out whether both were
was introduced into S. coelicolor cyc2::ApraRoriT (strain J3001) needed for geosmin synthesis, each domain was deleted sepa-
by polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated protoplast transforma- rately in S. coelicolor M145 by using the FLP system to generate
tion. About 30 KanR transformants were obtained with 100 ng precisely tailored in-frame mutations, as described above. The
CCC DNA. Nonselective propagation and screening for ApraS amino-terminal deletion, cyc2⌬N (strain J3004), removed
transformants readily yielded an unmarked deletion of cyc2 codons 6–340 and retained the ATG start codon, and the
(strain J3003) containing a ‘‘scar’’ sequence of 81 bp (27 codons), carboxyl-terminal deletion, cyc2⌬C (strain J3005), removed
which was confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analysis. codons 380–721 and retained the stop codon. Geosmin produc-
To confirm that the loss of geosmin production in the con- tion was abolished in J3004 (cyc2⌬N) but not in J3005 (cyc2⌬C),
structed cyc2 mutants was directly caused by the cyc2 deletions, which produced similar amounts to wild-type S. coelicolor (Table
we were able to restore geosmin production by reintroducing 3). This result demonstrates that the C-terminal domain was not
cyc2 as a 3,574-bp NotI fragment in the ␾C31 attP integrating required for geosmin biosynthesis. The possibility that Cyc1
vector pSET⍀ (ref. 31; Table 3). might complement the loss of the C-terminal domain of Cyc2 was

Table 3. Geosmin production by S. coelicolor mutants

Mutant strain Genotype Geosmin production Complemented by Geosmin production
BIOCHEMISTRY

KF62 cyc1⬋Tn4560 ⫹
J3001 ⌬cyc2 ⫺ cyc2 ⫹
J3002 cyc1⬋Tn4560, ⌬cyc2 ⫺ cyc2 ⫹
J3003 ⌬cyc2scar ⫺ cyc2 ⫹
J3004 cyc2⌬N ⫺ cyc2 or cyc2 N terminus ⫹
J3005 cyc2⌬C ⫹
J3006 cyc1⬋Tn4560, cyc2⌬N ⫺ cyc2 or cyc2 N terminus ⫹
J3007 cyc1⬋Tn4560, cyc2⌬C ⫹

Production (⫹) was indicated by a peak corresponding to the geosmin standard within the total ion current chromatogram (TIC), and a mass
spectrum (MS) with the expected Mr ⫽ 182 and a characteristic fragmentation pattern identical to that observed for the authentic standard.
Where a geosmin peak was observed (⫹), the typical signal to noise ratio was ⬇100, although this varied from sample to sample. Where no
geosmin peak was observed (⫺), no ions were detected above background with a mass spectrum similar to authentic geosmin.

Gust et al. PNAS 兩 February 18, 2003 兩 vol. 100 兩 no. 4 兩 1545
eliminated because the constructed cyc1,cyc2⌬C double-mutant involved in the biosynthesis of the well known ‘‘earthy odor’’
J3007 still produced geosmin. To verify that the N terminus of metabolite geosmin. We have also shown that only the N-
Cyc2 without the C terminus of Cyc2 was sufficient for normal terminal domain of the Cyc2 protein is required for geosmin
geosmin production, the C-terminally deleted gene was cloned biosynthesis. Consistent with our findings, Cane and Watt report
into pSET⍀ (31) and introduced into the N-terminally deleted in the accompanying paper (22) that both the full-length Cyc2
cyc2 mutant. Geosmin production was restored (Table 3). protein and its N-terminal domain catalyze the cyclization of
farnesyl pyrophosphate to germacra-1 (10)E,5E-dien-11-ol,
Discussion whereas the recombinant C-terminal domain has no detectable
Murphy et al. (6) showed that induction of the ␭-Red genes (gam, sesquiterpene synthase activity in vitro.
bet, and exo) can significantly increase homologous recombina- These findings reinforce and extend incorporation experi-
tion in E. coli. Datsenko and Wanner (2) developed this strategy ments in Streptomyces antibioticus, which first indicated that
into a rapid and efficient protocol, which they used to disrupt 13 geosmin is synthesized from farnesyl pyrophosphate via a ses-
genes on the E. coli chromosome. In other work, genes in a quiterpene precursor (20), and the finding that a geosmin
cosmid library have been targeted with PCR products, and the over-producing strain of Streptomyces citreus also produced
mutagenized cosmids were used subsequently to transform the considerable quantities of the sesquiterpene alcohol germacra-1
filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans (32). Higher recombi- (10)E,5E-dien-11-ol, suggesting that this compound is the ses-
nation frequencies resulted from increasing the length of ho- quiterpene precursor of geosmin (26). Taken together, these
mologous DNA flanking the transformation marker. results suggest plausible mechanisms for geosmin biosynthesis in
The inclusion of oriT from an IncP-group plasmid in the Streptomyces spp., which are explored in detail in the accom-
disruption cassette allowed conjugation to be used for interge- panying paper (22). The Cyc2 synthase is predicted to carry
neric transfer of cosmid DNA from E. coli to Streptomyces. In out cyclization of farnesyl pyrophosphate, to give germacra-1
comparison to transformation protocols described for Strepto- (10)E,5E-dien-11-ol after capture of a tertiary carbocation in-
myces (3), conjugation is much more efficient, and it is successful termediate by water and allylic transposition of the 2,3-double
with many actinomycetes (33). It also avoids the processes of bond. Several further reactions, involving at least three addi-
protoplasting and regeneration used during transformation pro- tional enzymes (a cyclase, a reductase, and a hydroxylase) would
cedures, which are often difficult to develop for other strains and be required to convert germacra-1 (10)E,5E-dien-11-ol into
which can cause genetic changes. geosmin. Genes for the biosynthesis of Streptomyces secondary
Typically, tens to hundreds of E. coli BW25113 transformants metabolites are usually clustered on the chromosome. Interest-
were obtained when using a PCR product with 39 bp of flanking ingly, the genes flanking cyc2 (Fig. 2 A) do not appear to code for
DNA homologous to the targeted S. coelicolor sequence; this enzymes likely to be involved in the conversion of germacradi-
result reinforces previously published results (6, 27), which enol into geosmin, suggesting that genes for the biosynthesis of
showed that 40–50 bp of sequence identity is sufficient to sustain the secondary metabolite geosmin may, in fact, be scattered on
recombination when Red␣ and Red␤ are produced in combi- the S. coelicolor chromosome.
nation with Red␥ (which inhibits the RecBCD exonuclease V). In preliminary experiments, we have observed that certain
So far, more than 100 segments of the S. coelicolor genome cyc2 mutations cause reduced sporulation. We anticipate that
ranging in size from 4 bp to over 7 kb have been replaced by PCR the further use of PCR-targeted mutagenesis will greatly facil-
targeting by us alone or in collaboration with others (data not itate further investigations of the role of geosmin in the life of
shown). On average, 10–30% of S. coelicolor exconjugants streptomycetes.
showed the desired allelic replacement. Interestingly, the fre-
quency of double crossovers in Streptomyces remained higher We thank David Cane for prepublication information about the bio-
than 5%, even when only 2–3 kb homology was present on one chemical attributes of the SCO6073 (Sc9B1.20) gene product, Nick Le
side and ⬎30 kb on the other side of the gene replaced within Brun at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, for help with
the cosmid (results not shown). GC-MS analysis, and Charlotte E. G. Schoeller at the Technical Uni-
versity of Denmark for access to her Ph.D. thesis, which contained much
In this study, this methodology has been applied both to
valuable background information about geosmin. This work was funded
replace the entire cyc2 gene and to generate independent by Biotechnological and Biological Research Council (BBSRC) Grant
in-frame deletions in the regions of cyc2 coding for the N- and 208兾IGF12432 (to K.F.C.), Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship Grant
C-terminal sesquiterpene synthase-like domains. In conjunction 053086 (to G.L.C.), a BBSRC Research Studentship (to T.K.), a Com-
with a recently established transposon library (34), these muta- petitive Strategic Grant from the BBSRC to the John Innes Centre, and
tions have enabled us to identify, for the first time, a gene the John Innes Foundation.

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1546 兩 www.pnas.org兾cgi兾doi兾10.1073兾pnas.0337542100 Gust et al.