PRODUCTION OF DESIRED PROTEINS OR POLYPEPTIDES BY CULTURING A TRANSFORMED LACTIC ACID BACTERIUM

摘要

The invention provides a food-grade recombinant plasmid comprising (1) a replicon and DNA sequences derived from a lactic acid bacterium (LAB), required for stable maintenance in a LAB, preferably derived from plasmid pWVO2 from (L. lactis) subsp. (cremoris) Wg2, and (2) a structural gene encoding a desired protein or polypeptide or its precursor, not being an antibiotic resistance selection marker, and optionally (3) a food-grade selection marker, whereby said plasmid has a theta-replication mechanism and is stably maintained in the transformed LAB under non-selective conditions. Also provided is a LAB transformed by said recombinant plasmid and the use of such transformed LAB in a process for producing said protein or polypeptide. Said recombinant plasmid can also be used for modifying the metabolic pathway of a LAB, e.g. for producing diacetyl or a precursor thereof by a LAB. Also claimed are food and animal feed products obtained by incorporating therein said protein or polypeptide or precursor thereof produced by said transformed LAB.