Expression of the alpha-bungarotoxin binding site of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor by Escherichia coli transformants.

Restriction fragments of DNA derived from a cDNA clone of the alpha subunit of the acetylcholine receptor were subcloned in Escherichia coli by using the trpE fusion vector, pATH2. Transformants expressing the amino acid sequences 166-315 or 166-200 are shown to produce a chimeric protein that bound alpha-bungarotoxin. Moreover, it is shown that sufficient amounts of toxin-binding proteins can be generated by individual colonies of bacteria. This provides a new approach for gene selection via functional expression--i.e., ligand overlays of colony blots.