Streptomyces lividans as a host for the production and secretion of Escherichia coli TEM beta-lactamase.

The regulatory region and the region coding for the signal peptide of an extracellular agarase have been used to synthesize and secrete the heterologous Escherichia coli TEM beta-lactamase in Streptomyces lividans. The transcriptional regulation of the chimeric gene, and the secretion pattern of the chimeric gene product, coincided with those of the agarase gene. The negative glucose effect on the secretion of the protein was reverted when the recombinant bacterium was grown in the chemostat under phosphate limiting conditions.