Expression of heterologous DNA using the bacillus coagulans amylase gene

Abstract

A vector for high-level expression of a heterologous gene in Bacillus, including a DNA sequence which encodes all or part of the structural gene and contains the promoter and ribosome binding site of a Bacillus coagulans amylase gene; within or immediately downstream of the structural gene is a site for insertion of heterologous DNA; when inserted, the heterologous DNA is in the same translational reading frame as the amylase gene; the heterologous DNA thus is under control of the B. coagulans amylase gene regulatory elements and expressed at high levels. A signal-encoding sequence may be inserted independent of, or along with, the heterologous DNA leading to authentic secretion of the heterologous protein.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the use of genetic engineering to produce desired heterologous polypeptides. (As used herein, "polypeptides" means any useful chain of amino acids, including proteins and peptides, and "heterologous" means a polypeptide not naturally produced by the host cell which produces the polypeptides.)

Bacillus strains have been used as hosts to produce heterologous polypeptides encoded on genetically engineered vectors. The use of a Gram positive Bacillus cell as host avoids some problems associated with expressing heterologous genes in Gram negative organisms such as E. coli; for example, problems associated with the production of endotoxins.

A number of Bacillus expression systems have been reported wherein heterologous proteins can be produced using a variety of cloned regulatory elements.

Hardy et al. (Nature, 1981, 293:481 and EP Application No. 82302157.1) expressed DNA sequences encoding the core antigen of hepatitis B virus and the major antigen of foot and mouth disease virus in Bacillus subtilis using the erythromycin resistance gene promoter on plasmid pBD9.

Williams et al. (Gene, 1981, 16:199) expressed the mouse dihydrofolate reductase gene in Bacillus subtilis using the vector pPL608, containing a phage SP02 promoter.

Ruppen et al. (in "Bacillus Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology Applications", eds. A. T. Garreson and J. A. Hoch, pp 423-432, Academic Press 1986) reported the use of the hybrid spac-1 promoter, a synthetic ribosome binding site, and the E. coli lpp gene terminater to produce recombinant human growth hormone in B. subtilis.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides an improved expression system for the production of heterologous polypeptides in Gram positive bacteria such as B. subtilis. The invention makes use of our isolation of, and discoveries regarding, a gene encoding a novel amylase of Bacillus coagulans, which is expressed at unusually high levels. According to the invention, DNA encoding a desired heterologous polypeptide is positioned in a vector so as to be under the control of the B. coagulans amylase regulatory region, to effect high level expression of the polypeptide. (B. coagulans is available from the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Md., Accession No. 23498.)

The novel amylase gene of Bacillus coagulans, in addition to being expressed at unusually high levels in B. subtilis when carried on a plasmid vector, is unique among genes encoding exported amylases, e.g., amylase genes of B. licheniformis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. stearothermophilus and B. subtilis, in that it also lacks a signal peptide encoding sequence. As such, this novel amylase gene is not the amylase gene of Cornelis et al., 1982, Mol. Gen. Genetics 186:507. The amylase that Cornelis et al. describe appears to be similar if not identical to an amylase from B. licheniformis, and in fact the authors state that the strain may be B. licheniformis. We have discovered that, despite the lack of a signal peptide encoding sequence on the B. coagulans amylase gene, considerable levels of amylase are ultimately found extracellularly, presumably because of the abundance of protein produced and the release of this protein by the cell. We have further discovered that a heterologous gene, when genetically engineered so as to be under the transcriptional and translational control of the B. coagulans regulatory region, is also expressed in large amounts.

In addition to the regulatory region of the B. coagulans gene, the vector of the invention advantageously includes all or part of the amylase structural gene; preferably the portion of the structural gene encodes either at least the first (amino terminal) 2 or 30 amino acids of amylase. The vector also preferably includes, downstream of and in reading frame with the regulatory region, a site for insertion of heterologous DNA, so that the DNA is under the transcriptional control of the B. coagulans promoter. This site is most preferably located within or at the 3' end of the amylase structural gene, immediately upstream from the translation stop codon, so that expression produces a fusion protein (all or a portion of B. coagulans amylase fused to the desired heterologous polypeptide), in which the partial or complete amylase protein serves as a protective carrier for stabilization against protease degradation of the heterologous polypeptide. This stabilization is particularly important for peptides and small polypeptides, and eukaryotic proteins, which can otherwise be substantially degraded by host cell proteases.

In another preferred embodiment, a signal peptide encoding sequence is inserted upstream of the heterologous gene and downstream of the amylase regulatory region, or portion of the structural gene; the signal peptide encoding sequence is one capable of functioning in Gram positive, preferably Bacillus, host cells, and thus effecting secretion of the heterologous gene product. Preferably the signal peptide encoding sequence is derived from a Bacillus species, most preferably from a Bacillus protease gene, such as the B. subtilis subtilisin gene described in Sloma et al. (U.S. application Ser. No. 921,343, assigned to the same assignee and hereby incorporated by reference), the B. cereus penicillinase gene described in Sloma et. al., (U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,280), the B. licheniformis penicillinase gene described in Chang et. al., (U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,844), the B. subtilis alpha-amylase gene described in Yamane et. al., (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,690,898 and 4,663,294), or the B. licheniformis alpha-amylase gene described in Stephens et. al., (U.S. application Ser. No. 845,864, assigned to the same assignee and hereby incorporated by reference).

In another preferred embodiment, the host cell is a Gram positive cell, preferably a Bacillus cell of the species B. subtilis or, alternatively, from one of the species B. licheniformis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. polymyxa, B. stearothermophilus, B. thermoproteolyticus, B. coagulans, B. thuringiensis, B. megaterium, B. cereus, B. natto, or B. acidocaldarius.

Examples of heterologous DNA which can be expressed according to the invention include any desired polypeptide, e.g., medically useful proteins such as hormones, vaccines, antiviral proteins, antitumor proteins, antibodies, or clotting proteins, and agriculturally and industrially useful proteins such as enzymes or pesticides. One example of a desired eukaryotic protein which can be expressed according to the invention is atrial natriuretic factor. This factor has been reported in the literature under a variety of names, and as having a range of amino acid chain lengths; these are given in Palluk et al., Life Sciences, 1985, 36:1415. Herein there is used the nomenclature of FIG. 1 of that paper, which names the precursor molecule atrial natriuretic factor and three smaller biologically active fragments of the molecule, Atriopeptin I, Atriopeptin II, and Atriopeptin III ("APIII"). These peptides can be administered to human patients to control hypertension and regulate serum sodium and potassium levels.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments thereof, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The drawings will first be briefly described.

Drawings

FIG. 1 (parts 1 and 2) is the nucleotide and amino acid sequence of the 5' terminus of the B. coagulans amylase gene.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the construction of an intermediate vector containing the B. coagulans amylase gene with a downstream BamHI site.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of the construction of vector pCR48, containing the B. coagulans amylase gene sequence and the APIII gene.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of vector pMS330 containing the B. coagulans amylase regulatory region and the B. licheniformis amylase gene.

FIG. 5 is a restriction map of the portion of the B. coagulans DNA sequence containing the amylase gene, in a B. subtilis vector. FIG. 6 (parts 1-6) is the nucleotide and amino acid sequence of the entire B. coagulans amylase gene.

FIG. 7 (parts 1 and 2) is a comparison of the amino acid sequences of the amylase genes of B. licheniformis and B. coagulans.

CONSTRUCTION OF VECTORS

Two vectors of the invention, pCR48 and pMS330, are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The first step in their construction was the isolation of the B. coagulans amylase gene from a DNA library, as follows.

Cloning the Amylase Gene from B. coagulans

Chromosomal DNA was isolated from B. coagulans strain A.T.C.C. Accession No. 23498, partially digested with Sau3A, and size fractionated by electrophoresis on a 0.8% agarose gel. DNA in the 3-6 kb size range was electroeluted from the gel. This DNA was ligated to BclI-cut pBD214 (Gryczan et al., 1982, Gene 20:459) at a 2:1 ratio of chromosomal DNA to vector DNA. The ligated DNA was then transformed into competent cells of B. subtilis BD393 (Gryczan et al., supra), resulting in 7200 Tmp.sup.R CM.sup.R colonies ("Tmp.sup.R " is trimethoprim resistant; "Cm.sup.R " is chloramphenicol resistant). Three out of 3350 Tmp.sup.R Cm.sup.R colonies formed halos when plated on starch-azure indicator plates. Plasmid DNA from all three of these colonies was able to transform a different amylase-minus B. subtilis strain to Amy+, indicating that an amylase gene had been cloned on these plasmids. One colony produced a large halo and contained a plasmid (pNH237) with an insert size of approximately 3.8 kb.

Expression of B. coagulans Amylase in B. subtilis

Plasmid pNH237 was transformed into a protease deficient and sporulation-minus B. subtilis host strain designated GP205 (apr.DELTA., npr.DELTA., spoOA). Cultures of GP205 containing pNH237 were grown overnight in LB containing chloramphenicol (5 ug/ml), and samples of supernatant fractions were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with Coomassie Brilliant Blue staining. For comparison purposes, samples of supernatant fluids from cultures of GP205 containing a cloned B. licheniformis amylase gene were also run on the same gels. (This gene, and the use of its signal peptide encoding sequence in secretion vectors, has been described in Stephens et al., U.S. Ser. No. 845,864, assigned to the same assignee and hereby incorporated by reference).

Cells containing the B. coagulans amylase gene (on pNH237) were found to synthesize large amounts of a protein of MW approximately 59,000. Comparison of densitometric quantitations of protein bands in a polyacrylamide gel showed that cells containing pNH237 produced 5-10 fold more amylase protein than cells containing the B. licheniformis amylase gene carried on the same vector. Additional data indicated that the significantly more amylase protein than the B. amyloliquefaciens amylase gene carried on the same vector.

The location of the amylase gene on pNH237 was determined, its nucleotide sequence obtained, and its associated regulatory sequences identified as described below.

Localization of the B. coagulans Amylase Gene

To determine where the coding region of the gene is located within the 3.8 kb insert of pNH237, a restriction map of this DNA was generated (FIG. 5). By constructing plasmids that were deleted for either one or both of the two EcoRV fragments, it was determined that the presence of the 1.25 kb EcoRV fragment was essential for amylase activity and that the 1.0 kb EcoRV fragment could be eliminated without affecting activity; information essential for amylase expression must therefore lie within the 1.25 kb central EcoRV fragment.

To more precisely map the gene, the plasmid DNA was used to direct the synthesis of amylase in an in vitro transcription/translation system. The plasmid DNA was cleaved with various restriction enzymes to determine which restriction sites lie within the gene (cleavage at sites within the gene disrupt the synthesis of the product). Uncut DNA, and DNA which was not cleaved within the insert (EcoRI), produced a protein of MW of about 59,000. Restriction of the DNA with either PvuII, EcoRV, or SalI eliminated synthesis of the 59 Kd protein, indicating that those enzymes cut within the coding sequence, while cleavage with BamHI did not affect synthesis of the protein. The gene was thus localized to the approximately 2.1 kb portion of the insert between the BamHI site and the end of the insert (FIG. 5). This fragment was removed from pNH237 on the 2.1 kb EcoRI - BamHI fragment and cloned into EcoRI/BamHI-digested pBs81/6. (pBs81/6 is a multi-copy plasmid that is derived from pBD64 (Gryczan et al., 1978, PNAS 75:1428), a standard Bacillus cloning vector, by changing the PvuII site to a HindIII site with a synthetic linker.) The resulting plasmid is designated pMS281.

Sequence of the B. coagulans Amylase Gene

The entire 2.1 kb of DNA between the BamHI and EcoRI sites of pMS281 was sequenced by the Sanger dideoxy method. The nucleotide sequence of the entire amylase gene is given in FIG. 6.

The B. coagulans amylase gene has significant homology with the alpha-amylase genes of B. stearothermophilus (58%) and B. licheniformis (62%). The region of homology begins immediately after the signal peptide encoding sequence for the B. licheniformis gene and corresponds to the 5'end of the coding region for the B. coagulans amylase gene (FIG. 7). The B. coagulans gene does not have an open reading frame 5' to the region of homology with the B. licheniformis amylase, and the deduced N-terminal amino acid sequence of the protein does not resemble a typical signal peptide sequence, indicating that B. coagulans amylase is not associated with a conventional signal peptide sequence.

The amino acid sequence of purified B. coagulans amylase was determined, and found to correspond to that predicted by the DNA sequence, except for the presence of an N-terminal methionine residue (normally encoded by ATG) in place of the predicted leucine residue (encoded by TTG). This is explained by the fact that TTG is known to sometimes encode the N-terminal methionine in Gram positive organisms.

Sequences resembling RNA polymerase and ribosome binding sites were found at the appropriate positions upstream from the TTG initiation codon. The sequence TTGAAA at position -70 closely resembles the canonical -35 region (TTGACA) for B. subtilis promoters recognized by the sigma.sup.43 -RNA polymerase, and the sequence TATACT (position -47 closely resembles the canonical -10 region (TATAAT) for B. subtilis sigma.sup.43 promoters. The TTG initiation codon is preceded by the sequence GAAGGGG (position -15), which could function as a Bacillus ribosome binding site.

CONSTRUCTION OF FUSION VECTORS

Two approaches were used to construct fusion vectors. The first approach involved igonucleotide-directed mutagenesis of the 3' end of the B. coagulans amylase gene to introduce a BamHI site, for the insertion of the gene encoding APIII, in frame with a full-length copy of the B. coagulans amylase gene. The second approach involved the fusion of a heterologous gene to the regulatory region of the B. coagulans amylase gene to demonstrate that region's ability to direct expression of a heterologous polypeptide. The former approach yielded plasmid pCR48 (FIG. 3), and the latter plasmid pMS330.

pCR48

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of pCR48, a vector in which DNA encoding APIII is inserted adjacent to the 3' end of the B. coagulans amylase gene, such that an amylase-APIII fusion protein is expressed under the transcriptional and translational control of the B. coagulans amylase promoter and ribosome binding sequence. pCR48 was constructed as follows.

A BamHI site was inserted at the 3' end of the amylase gene in pMS281 using oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis. A 41 base oligomer, complementary to the nucleotide sequence of either side of the amylase stop codon and containing 6 additional bases encoding a BamHI recognition site, was introduced between the last codon and the stop codon of the amylase gene. The nucleotide sequence of the oligomer is as follows:

5' GGTACAGGAAACGGATGAAAACGGATCCTAAGGAGGGGCAC 3'. Insertion of the oligomer resulted in the addition of two corresponding amino acids encoded within the BAMHI site (glycine and serine) at the C-terminus of the amylase polypeptide. The strategy for inserting the BamHI site was as follows.

Samples of plasmid pMS281 (containing the entire amylase gene) were digested with HpaI and EcoRI (to delete the region of DNA that included the 3' terminus of the amylase gene) or HindIII and BqlII (to inactivate the kanamycin resistance gene). The samples were mixed, the plasmids were denatured, and single strands were allowed to reanneal in the presence of the synthetic oligomer. The oligonucleotide annealed with the single stranded region of the template that was created by restriction enzyme digestion of the plasmid of the complementary strand; it was incorporated into the plasmid by treating with DNA polymerase, in the presence of all four deoxynucleotides, to fill in the gaps. The mutagenized DNA was used to transform B. subtilis protoplasts, and transformants were selected by chloramphenicol resistance and the ability to synthesize amylase. The resultant plasmids were screened for the presence of the new BamHI site at the end of the amylase gene. The addition of the glycine and serine residues to the carboxy-terminus of the protein did not appear to affect amylase activity. One of these plasmids, pCR46, was used for the construction of gene fusions. (pCR46 has been deposited with the American Type Culture Collection, Accession No. 67736, and assigned to the same assignee).

The gene encoding APIII (see Stephens et al., supra ) was inserted in-frame with the B. coagulans amylase gene at the newly created BamHI site by the following procedure. A BglII-HindIII fragment of DNA isolated from the plasmid pMS280, which contains the coding region for APIII located upstream of a segment of DNA derived from the 3' end of the B. licheniformis amylase gene, was ligated with the BamHI fragment from pCR46 containing the B. coagulans amylase gene. Cleavage with BamHI, BglII, and HindIII released fragments containing single copies of the B. coagulans amylase APIII fusion and having BamHI-HindIII ends. These fragments were then ligated with BamHI/HindIII-digested pBs81/6 (described supra.) and transformed into B. subtilis. The resulting plasmid was designated pCR48.

B. subtilis GP205 cells containing pCR48 were grown in liquid medium, and the contents of the cells and the spent culture fluid were analyzed separately for the presence of amylase or the amylase-APIII fusion protein. Cellular or extracellular protein was separated by size using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and visualized either by staining with Coomassie Brilliant Blue dye or by Western blot analysis using amylase-specific antibodies. A large quantity of amylase APIII fusion protein was produced in these cells and a significant portion of it (up to 50%) was released into the culture medium. This level of protein production was 5-10 fold greater than that of a fusion of the B. licheniformis amylase gene to the APIII gene.

The B. coagulans amylase regulatory region present on pCR48 is thus capable of directing the expression of high levels of fusion protein, the desired portion of which can be released and isolated from the purified fusion protein by cleavage with a suitable proteolytic reagent such as Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease (Mai et al., EP 0207044).

As mentioned above, DNA coding for other commercially useful heterologous polypeptides can also be inserted into or fused to the carboxy-terminus of the B. coagulans amylase gene to produce high levels of the corresponding heterologous polypeptide. In the case of the production of fusion proteins containing heterologous peptides for use as components of vaccines, it may not be necessary to purify the heterologous peptide away from the amylase carrier moiety of the fusion protein, as the fusion protein itself may be useful as a vaccine.

pMS330

FIG. 4 depicts pMS330, a vector in which the B. coagulans amylase gene and regulatory elements are inserted upstream of, and in the same translational reading frame as, the B. licheniformis amylase gene. The hybrid protein thus encoded is under the transcriptional and translational control of the B. coagulans amylase gene regulatory elements. This vector was constructed as follows.

Plasmid pMS283 (containing the B. coagulans amylase gene) was cut with BamHI and EcoRV and the 650bp fragment containing the regulatory region and the 5' end of the B. coagulans amylase gene was cloned between the BamHI and HincII sites of pUC18 to form pAS40. pAS40 was cut with NarI, treated with Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase in the presence of all four deoxynucleotides to create blunt ends, and ligated to a PstI linker (d[p'GCTGCAGC]). Following cleavage with BamHI and PstI, the 460 bp BamHI-PstI fragment containing the regulatory elements and approximately 30 codons of the B. coagulans amylase coding region was cloned into BamHI and PstI digested pBs92/13. (pBs92/13 carries the coding region of the B. licheniformis amylase gene but lacks the promoter and signal peptide encoding sequence.) This resulted in the placement of the B. coagulans amylase regulatory region upstream of a promoter-less and signal-less B. licheniformis amylase gene in pMS330.

After transformation into B. subtilis GP205 cells the fusion polypeptide produced by cells carrying pMS330 was analyzed. Most of the fusion protein produced remained cell associated. Cell associated proteins were extracted according to conventional procedures and analyzed by gel staining and Western blotting. The level of production of the B. coagulans amylase-B. licheniformis amylase fusion protein was less than that of wild type B. coagulans amylase, but considerably more than the level of amylase production seen with the B. licheniformis amylase gene alone. This confirmed that the regulatory elements and the promoter - proximal end of the B. coagulans gene are useful for directing high-level expression of a heterologous gene.

CONSTRUCTION OF SECRETION VECTORS

The expression vectors of the invention can be converted to secretion vectors by the addition of an efficient signal peptide encoding sequence. This is achieved either by introducing an efficient signal peptide encoding sequence into the B. coagulans amylase gene, or by using a heterologous gene which carries its own signal encoding DNA. An efficient signal peptide encoding sequence is introduced immediately downstream of the B. coagulans amylase gene, or fragment thereof, by inserting either a synthetic or a cloned copy of signal encoding DNA. The signal peptide encoding sequence derived from the B. subtilis subtilisin gene, for example, is a suitable sequence, as is any other signal peptide encoding sequence capable of directing the secretion of proteins in B. subtilis. The heterologous gene may be directly linked to the signal peptide encoding sequence or linked to the signal-encoding DNA through a translational fusion, involving protein-encoding DNA other than the B. coagulans amylase sequence. One construction suitable for both of these alternatives would contain the B. subtilis subtilisin signal peptide encoding sequence inserted immediately downstream of the B. coagulans amylase gene regulatory elements and amino-terminal protein-coding fragment. The B. licheniformis amylase gene could be inserted directly downstream from the subtilisin signal encoding sequence or, alternatively, a B. licheniformis amylase - APIII translation fusion could then be inserted.

DEPOSIT

pCR46 has been deposited with the American Type Culture Collection, in Rockville, Md. (accession number 67736), under the terms of the Budapest Treaty. Applicants' assignee, BioTechnica International, Inc. acknowledges its responsibility to replace these cultures should they die before the end of the term of a patent issued hereon, and its responsibility to notify the ATCC of the issuance of such a patent, at which time the deposits will be made irrevocably available to the public for at least 30 years after the date of deposit or five years after the last request or the enforceable life of the patent, whichever is longer. Until that time the deposits will be made available to the Commissioner of Patents and all restraints upon availability should be irrevocably removed upon issuance of the patent under the terms of 37 CFR .sctn.1.14 and 35 USC .sctn.112..

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

Other embodiments are within the following claims.

Claims

1. A purified DNA sequence comprising the regulatory DNA naturally operationally associated with and positioned upstream from the Bacillus coagulans amylase gene represented by the nucleotide sequence depicted in FIG. 6, said purified DNA comprising less than the entire Bacillus coagulans chromosome.

2. A purified DNA sequence comprising the Bacillus coagulans amylase gene represented by the nucleotide sequence depicted in FIG. 6.

3. A vector comprising the regulatory DNA naturally operationally associated with and positioned upstream of the Bacillus coagulans amylase gene represented by the nucleotide sequence depicted in FIG. 6.

4. The vector of claim 1 further comprising, downstream of and in reading frame with said regulatory DNA, said Bacillus coagulans gene or a region thereof encoding at least the first two N-terminal amino acids of said B. coagulans amylase.

5. The vector of claim 2, wherein said region encodes at least the first 30 N-terminal amino acids of said B. coagulans amylase.

6. The vector of claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising, downstream of and in reading frame with said regulatory region, a site for insertion of a heterologous DNA sequence.

7. The vector of claim 6, wherein said heterologous DNA sequence is inserted at said site, expression of said heterologous DNA sequence being under the control of said regulatory region.

8. The vector of claim 7, said site for insertion of a heterologous DNA sequence being located within said B. coagulans amylase gene, so that said vector encodes a fusion polypeptide comprising a fragment of B. coagulans amylase fused to the polypeptide encoded by said heterologous DNA sequence.

9. The vector of claim 7, said site being located at the 3' end of said B. coagulans amylase gene, so that said vector encodes a fusion polypeptide comprising said B. coagulans amylase fused to the polypeptide encoded by said heterologous DNA sequence.

10. The vector of claim 7 further comprising a signal peptide encoding sequence capable of functioning in a gram positive cell and positioned upstream of and in reading frame with said heterologous DNA, to effect secretion of the polypeptide encoded by said heterologous DNA sequence from a host Bacillus cell transformed with said vector.

11. The vector of claim 10 wherein said signal peptide encoding sequence is a synthetic or cloned copy of signal peptide encoding DNA naturally associated with the genus Bacillus.

12. The vector of claim 11 wherein said signal peptide encoding sequence is a synthetic or cloned copy of signal peptide encoding DNA naturally associated with Bacillus subtilis.

13. The vector of claim 10 wherein said signal peptide encoding sequence is a sequence naturally associated with a Bacillus subtilisin gene.

14. The vector of claim 13 wherein said subtilisin gene encodes Bacillus subtilis subtilisin.

15. The vector of claim 11 wherein said signal peptide encoding sequence is a sequence naturally associated with a penicillinase gene from one of the following Bacillus species:

(a) B. cereus, or

(b) B. licheniformis.

16. The vector of claim 11 wherein said signal peptide encoding sequence is a sequence naturally associated with an alpha-amylase gene from one of the following Bacillus species:

(a) B. subtilis, or

(b) B. licheniformis.

17. The vector of claim 7 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes a medically useful protein.

18. The vector of claim 7 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes a hormone, an antitumor protein, an antiviral protein, an antibody or a clotting protein.

19. The vector of claim 17 wherein said heterologous DNA sequence encodes a growth factor.

20. The vector of claim 7 wherein said heterologous DNA sequence encodes atrial natriuretic factor or a biologically active fragment thereof.

21. The vector of claim 7 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes an agriculturally useful protein.

22. The vector of claim 7 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes an industrially useful protein.

23. A vector comprising a DNA sequence encoding Bacillus coagulans amylase as represented by the amino acid sequence depicted in FIG. 6.

24. A gram positive cell transformed with the vector of claim 1 or claim 5.

25. The cell of claim 24, said cell being a Bacillus cell.

26. The cell of claim 25 said cell being a Bacillus subtilis cell.

27. The cell of claim 25, said cell being one of the following Bacillus species:

(a) B. licheniformis,

(b) B. amyloliquefaciens,

(c) B. polymyxa,

(d) B. stearothermophilus,

(e) B. thermoproteolyticus,

(f) B. coagulans,

(g) B. thuringiensis,

(h) B. megaterium,

(i) B. cereus,

(j) B. natto, or

(k) B. acidocaldarius.

28. A method for producing B. coagulans amylase in a gram positive cell, said method comprising

providing a vector, said vector containing a DNA sequence encoding B. coagulans amylase as represented by the amino acid sequence depicted in FIG. 6,

transforming said cell with said vector,

culturing said transformed cell in culture medium to produce said amylase, and

isolating said amylase from said cultured cell or said medium.

29. A method for producing a heterologous polypeptide in a gram positive cell, said method comprising

providing the vector of claim 7,

transforming said cell with said vector,

culturing said transformed cell in culture medium to produce said heterologous polypeptide, and

isolating said protein from said cultured cell or said medium.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the DNA encoding said heterologous polypeptide includes a signal peptide encoding sequence capable of functioning in a gram positive cell and effecting secretion of said heterologous protein from said cell.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein said signal peptide encoding sequence is a synthetic or cloned copy of signal peptide encoding DNA naturally associated with Bacillus.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein said signal peptide encoding sequence is a synthetic or cloned copy of signal peptide encoding DNA naturally associated with Bacillus subtilis.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein said Bacillus signal peptide encoding sequence encodes the signal peptide of a subtilisin gene.

34. The method of claim 31 wherein said subtilisin gene encodes Bacillus subtilis subtilisin.

35. The method of claim 30 wherein said signal peptide encoding sequence is a sequence naturally associated with a penicillinase gene from one of the following Bacillus strains:

(a) B. cereus, or

(b) B. licheniformis.

36. The method of claim 30 wherein said signal peptide encoding sequence is a sequence naturally associated with an alpha-amylase gene from one of the following Bacillus strains:

(a) B. subtilis, or

(b) B. licheniformis.

37. The method of claim 29 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes a medically useful protein.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes a hormone, an antitumor protein, an antiviral protein, an antibody or a clotting protein.

39. The method of claim 37 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes a growth factor.

40. The method of claim 7 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes atrial natriuretic factor or a biologically active fragment thereof.

41. The method of claim 29 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes an agriculturally useful protein.

42. The method of claim 29 wherein said heterologous DNA encodes an industrially useful protein.