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Purification and Characterization of Microbially Expressed Neomycin Phosphotransferase II (NPTII) Protein and its Equivalence to the Plant Expressed Protein

Bio/Technology volume 11, pages 1537–1542 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

The gene encoding neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPTII) has been used routinely as a selectable marker in the production of genetically engineered crops. To facilitate the safety assessment of this protein, the same coding sequence used for plant transformation was introduced into Escherichia coli to produce gram quantities of this protein. A unique, simple, rapid and efficient purification method was developed to purify thirty grams of NPTII protein. The microbially produced NPTII was shown to be chemically and functionally equivalent to the NPTII protein expressed in and purified from genetically engineered cotton seed, potato tubers and tomato fruit. Microbially produced and plant produced NPTII proteins have comparable molecular weights, immuno-reactivities, epitope structures, amino terminal amino acid sequences, biological activities and both lack glycosylation. Demonstrating the equivalence of NPTII protein from these sources establishes the validity of using the microbially produced NPTII to assess the safety of the NPTII protein produced in genetically engineered crops.

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Author notes

  1. Roy L. Fuchs: Corresponding author.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Agricultural Group, A Unit of Monsanto Company, 700 Chesterfield Village Parkway, Chesterfield, MO, 63198

    Roy L. Fuchs, Robert A. Heeren, Mark E. Gustafson, Glen J. Rogan, David E. Bartnicki, Richard M. Leimgruber, Rory F. Finn, Arnold Hershman & Sharon A. Berberich

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  2. Robert A. Heeren
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Fuchs, R., Heeren, R., Gustafson, M. et al. Purification and Characterization of Microbially Expressed Neomycin Phosphotransferase II (NPTII) Protein and its Equivalence to the Plant Expressed Protein. Nat Biotechnol 11, 1537–1542 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1293-1537

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