Construction of a new integrating vector from actinophage ϕOZJ and its use in multiplex Streptomyces transformation

Streptomyces and other closely-related actinobacteria are important sources of bioactive molecules. Streptomyces synthetic biology and genetics empower therapeutic and agrichemical development through strain improvement and biosynthetic understanding. Such efforts rely on the availability of developed molecular toolsets. Among these tools, vectors that enable combinatorial chromosomal manipulations are particularly desirable. Towards developing tools for facile multiplex engineering, we herein describe the development of new integrating vectors derived from BD1 subgroup actinophage OzzyJ (ϕOZJ). By demonstrating the transformation of several Streptomyces spp. using ϕOZJ-derived vectors, we reveal their potential for strain engineering. We further report the development of new ϕC31 and ϕBT1-based vectors having orthogonal resistance, replication and integration features for concomitant transformation with our ϕOZJ-derived vectors. Importantly, the resulting compatible vector panel enabled us to demonstrate the transfer of up to three plasmids each into Streptomyces venezuelae, Streptomyces roseosporus and Streptomyces pristinaespiralis during a single conjugation experiment. To our knowledge this is the first documentation of conjugation-mediated multiplex plasmid transformation, a useful approach for rapid combinatorial strain development.