Production of pediocin PA-1 in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris reveals unexpected inhibition of its biological activity due to the presence of collagen-like material

Expression of the pedA gene from Pediococcus acidilactici, coding for mature bacteriocin Pediocin PA-1, was investigated using the yeast Pichia pastoris to obtain larger quantities of pediocin to support additional studies, including structure-function research. Following various cloning strategies, a KM71H (Muts) strain was selected. A significant concentration (74 μg/ml) of extracellular recombinant pediocin was obtained but the pediocin showed no biological activity. Supernatant fluids from P. pastoris cultures, harboring or not pedA, inhibited the biological activity of natural pediocin PA-1. The recombinant pediocin appeared as a mixture of three main fractions (7-8, 11, 20 kDa vs. 4.6 kDa for natural pediocin PA-1). The recombinant pediocin was also less hydrophobic and behaved differently when subjected to isoelectric focusing. Strong evidence indicated that some “collagen-like” material was tightly associated, most probably via covalent binding, to the recombinant pediocin. The “collagen-like” material was most probably responsible for the lack of biological activity of the recombinant pediocin and for the differences observed regarding some of the physico-chemical properties. Both the recombinant pediocin and natural pediocin were sensitive to collagenase, suggesting that pediocin PA-1 may possess a somewhat “collagen-like” nature. Interestingly, recombinant pediocin preparations showed the ability to assemble into fibrils.