I'm getting low basal expression of my gene of interest when using the pSyn_1 vector. What do you suggest I try?
The promoter for pSyn_1 is the Psc. Psc is a weak constitutive promoter that drives basal expression of your gene of interest. The promoter for pSyn_6, on the other hand, is the psbA promoter (PpsbA). PpsbA is a strong constitutive promoter of the psbA gene (encoding photosystem II protein D1) from Synechococcus elongatus, driving the high level expression of your gene of interest.
The promoter for pSyn_1 is the Psc. Psc is a weak constitutive promoter that drives basal expression of your gene of interest. The promoter was taken from the solanesyl diphosphate synthase gene from Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC 6803. Note: Use of this weak constitutive promoter is a good fit for applications that are hindered by strong expression, such as pathway engineering or complementation of mutant genes normally expressed at low levels (Simkovsky et al., 2012).
The promoter for pSyn_6 is the psbA promoter (PpsbA). PpsbA is a strong constitutive promoter of the psbA gene (encoding photosystem II protein D1) from Synechococcus elongatus, driving high-level expression of your gene of interest. The pSyn-6 vector also includes a ribosome-binding site (GAAGGAG) for efficient initiation of translation, as well as a stop codon. A 6xHis TEV and a V5-His epitope tag is also included in the vector backbone for detection/purification of the gene of interest. NS1 (neutral site 1) homologous recombination sites are present in both vectors for the integration of the vector into the Synechococcus elongatus genome.
What is the mechanism of integration when using the Synechococcus expression kits?
A double homologous recombination event occurs between the Neutral Site 1 in the genome and between NSa and NSb in the plasmid. This results in the gene of interest and spectinomycin resistance integrating into the genome within the Neutral Site 1.