PNNL

Abstract

One of the most promising of the emerging methods for large-scale studies of interactions among proteins is co-isolation of an affinity-tagged protein and its interaction partners, followed by mass spectrometric identification of the co-purifying proteins. We describe a methodology for systematically identifying the proteins that interact with affinity-tagged “bait” proteins expressed from a medium copy plasmid, which are based on a broad host range (pBBR1MCS5) vector backbone that has been modified to incorporate the Gateway DEST plasmid multiple cloning region. This construct was designed to facilitate expression of fusion proteins bearing an affinity tag, across a range of Gram negative bacterial hosts. We demonstrate the performance of this methodology by characterizing interactions among subunits of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase complex in two metabolically versatile Gram negative microbial species of environmental interest, Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA010 and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. Results from the RNA polymerase complex from these two species compared favorably with those for both plasmid- and chromosomally-encoded affinity-tagged fusion proteins expressed in a model organism, E. coli.