Expression of bovine lactoferrin N-lobe by the green alga, Chlorella vulgaris

doi:2013.28.4.379

Algae > Volume 28(4); 2013 > Article

Algae 2013;28(4): 379-387. doi: https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2013.28.4.379

Jungmo Koo¹^,*, Dongjun Park¹ and Hakeung Kim¹

¹GENOBIO Co., Daejeon 306-230, Korea

*Corresponding Author

Email: jungmo9@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to express bovine lactoferrin N-lobe in Chlorella vulgaris, a green microalga, using the pCAMBIA1304 vector. Chlorella-codon-optimized bovine lactoferrin N-lobe (Lfb-N gene) was cloned in the expression vector pCAMBIA1304, creating the plasmid pCAMLfb-N. pCAMLfb-N was then introduced into C. vulgaris by electrotransformation. Transformants were separated from BG-11 plates containing 20 μg mL-1 hygromycin. Polymerase chain reaction was used to screen transformants harboring Lfb-N gene. Finally, total soluble protein was extracted from the transformants, and the expression of Lfb-N protein was detected using western blotting. Using this method, we successfully expressed bovine lactoferrin in C. vulgaris. Therefore, our results suggested that recombinant lactoferrin N-lobe, which has many uses in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries, can be produced economically.

Key words: Chlorella vulgaris; electrotransfomation; expression; hygromycin; lactoferrin