2.1. Plasmids, bacterial strains and culture conditions
Escherichia coli M15 (pREP4) was used as an expression host
using the pQE31 plasmid (Qiagen) in cloning procedures. E. coli
TOP10 (Invitrogen) was used as an intermediate host during cloning.
Luria Bertani (LB) broth was used for cultures of E. coli with
incubation at 37 C under shaking conditions. For LB agar media,
technical agar was added to LB broth to a final concentration of
1.5–2% w/v. When required, ampicillin and kanamycin were added
to a final concentration of 100 and 25 lg/ml respectively