Development of an Escherichia coli extracellular expression system

Escherichia coli is one of the preferred organisms for industrial production of recombinant proteins. Although E. coli expression systems have many advantages, most have liabilities that can prevent their use. We developed an E. coli expression system that combines the favorable characteristics of this organism with the benefits of extracellular protein production. Factors we investigated included signal sequences, host strains, and fermentation conditions. This system can quickly generate a production strain capable of producing > 6 g/L recombinant protein in a 60 hour, fed-batch fermentation process.