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Escherichia coli: The Leading Model for the Production of Recombinant Proteins

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Microbial Models: From Environmental to Industrial Sustainability

Part of the book series: Microorganisms for Sustainability ((MICRO,volume 1))

Abstract

Proteins are a diverse group of biomolecules that have many different biological activities and structures. Both in the industrial and research laboratory, proteins are used for very diverse purposes and are produced at different scales. Main fields of application of proteins are human and animal prophylactics, therapeutics, and diagnostics, as well as the food processing industry. Besides, proteins are employed as additives to generate a diverse range of products. Pectinases are employed in the food industry since 1930, in fruit juice manufacturing; other enzymes like papain, bromelain, pepsin, rennin, lipases, cellulases, and amylases have several industrial applications. Due to their relevance in medicine, proteins used as biopharmaceuticals are the best characterized. This chapter addresses the production of recombinant proteins as aligned with the concept of industrial sustainability and Escherichia coli as a model for heterologous protein production. It describes and updates the main production strategies and the current available tools for the protein expression system. The main disadvantages, as well as the improvements done to this model, are detailed. A final summary that includes industrial uses and fields of applications of recombinant proteins points out the relevance of this prokaryotic system.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII, Uruguay) through Fondo María Viñas (FMV_3_2013_1_100859). Victoria Veroli was the recipient of fellowships from ANII (Uruguay).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de la República, Igua 4225, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Paula Tucci, Victoria Veroli, Mario Señorale & Mónica Marín

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  1. Paula Tucci
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  2. Victoria Veroli
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  3. Mario Señorale
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  4. Mónica Marín
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Correspondence to Mónica Marín .

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  1. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Susana Castro-Sowinski

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Tucci, P., Veroli, V., Señorale, M., Marín, M. (2016). Escherichia coli: The Leading Model for the Production of Recombinant Proteins. In: Castro-Sowinski, S. (eds) Microbial Models: From Environmental to Industrial Sustainability. Microorganisms for Sustainability, vol 1. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2555-6_6

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