Transformation of Streptococcus zooepidemicus with genes responsible for polyhydroxybutyrate synthesis

A procedure for transformation of intact Streptococcus zooepidemicus cells by electroporation was developed through a systematic examination of the effects of various parameters, including growth conditions, electric field strengths used for electroporation, and concentrations of plasmid used for transformation. Efficiencies higher than 10 cfu/μg (cfu, clone forming unit) plasmid DNA were obtained for Streptococcus zooepidemicus H2004 cells. Results demonstrate that the broad-host-range plasmid pDL276 can be replicated in Streptococcus zooepidemicus H2004 and foreign genes responsible for polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) synthesis inserted into the pDL276 can be successfully expressed in the transformant, in which PHB is detected using the Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) method.