Numerous proteins cannot be sufficiently prepared by ordinary recombinant DNA techniques because they are unstable or have deleterious effects on the host cell. One idea to prepare such proteins is to produce them as protein inclusions. Here we developed a novel system to effectively prepare proteins by using peptide tags derived from the insecticidal Cry toxin of a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis. Fusion with this peptide tag, designated 4AaCter, facilitates the formation of protein inclusions of glutathione S‐transferase in Escherichia coli without losing the enzyme activity. Application of 4AaCter to the production of syphilis antigens TpN15, TpN17 and TpN47 from Treponema pallidum yielded excellent results, including a dramatic increase in the production level, simplification of the product purification and high reactivity with syphilis antibody. The use of 4AaCter may provide an innovational strategy for the efficient production of proteins.

The genetic structure of the populations of Turnip mosaic virus in Kyushu and central Honshu, Japan was assessed. The host specificity of isolates was determined, and their gene sequences compared utilizing a population genetic approach. Phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences revealed that 32 of 49 Honshu isolates (65%) collected during 1997-2001 belonged to the basal-BR group as did 23 of 64 isolates from Kyushu. All these basal-BR isolates infected both Brassica and Raphanus plants. However, analyses of the positions of recombination sites in five regions of the genome (one third of the full sequence) showed that at least four intra-lineage recombinants were present in these populations. These analyses showed that Kyushu and Honshu shared none of these subpopulations, and genetically distinct basal-BR populations were present in the two districts. We conclude that different basal-BR subpopulations had expanded into those districts.

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