The expression of foreign DNA in Escherichia coli is important in biotechnological applications. However, the translation of genes from GC-rich organisms is inefficient in E. coli. To overcome this problem, we applied directed evolution to E. coli ribosomal protein S1. Two selected mutants enabled 12-and 8-fold higher expression levels from GC-rich DNA targets. General improvements in translation efficiency over a range of genes from Rhodopseudomonas palustris and E. coli was achieved using an S1 mutant selected against multiple genes from R. palustris. This method opens new opportunities for the expression of GC-rich genes in E. coli.The recombinant expression of DNA in Escherichia coli is important for biotechnological applications, enabling the extension of pathways for the production of non-native metabolites with a growing economic and social impact (1-5). Heterologous expression of GC-rich genes in E. coli poses a unique set of challenges, in comparison with other DNA. Overcoming these problems will generate increased flexibility in the production of proteins and metabolites in this host. Although most efforts for recombinant expression in this host are achieved using E. coli promoters and optimal ribosome-binding sites (RBS), 2 it would be advantageous to express large pathways, consisting of many genes, without needing to change each promoter and RBS. Such a strategy would enable hybrid functionalities from multiple organisms using technology such as the fusing of two genomes (6) or transformation-associated recombination (7). Here we assess the ability of E. coli to express native DNA, including transcription and translation initiation regions, from the high GC ␣-bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris (8), and we propose a novel method for enhancing expression of foreign transcripts, altering E. coli ribosomal protein S1 by directed evolution.