Effects of Environmental Conditions on Expression of Bacillus subtilis $\alpha$-Amylase in Recombinant Escherichia coli

The expression of Bacillus subtilis $\alpha$-amylase from the phoA-amyE fusion gene in recombinant E. coli was investigated under various environmental conditions. The overexpression of cloned $\alpha$-amylase caused retardations in cell growth and synthesis of alkaline phosphatase (AP) from the chromosomal phoA gene. The change of culture temperature from $37^\circ{C}$ to $30^\circ{C}$ increased the specific activities of both $\alpha$-amylase and $\beta$-lactamase by six and two times, respectively, whereas the AP activity remained unchanged. The experiments with chlorampenicol (a translation inhibitor) suggested the enhancement of $\alpha$-amylase activity at $30^\circ{C}$, and this was partly due to the stability of $\alpha$-amylase itself. The further decrease of the temperature to $25^\circ{C}$ slowed down both the cell growth and cloned-gene expression rate. The $\alpha$-amylase activity showed a maximum at pH of 7.4 while alkaline phosphatase was most effectively produced at pH of 8.3.