TABLE 1.

Strains and plasmids used in this study

Strain or plasmid	Relevant characteristic(s)a	Source or reference
Strains
E. coli Top10F′	F′ [lacIq Tn10 (Tetr)] mcrA Δ(mrr-sdRMS-mcrBC) φ80 lacZ; cloning host	Invitrogen Canada
E. coli BL21(DE3)/pLysS	F−ompT hsdSB(rB− mB−) dcm (DE3); cloning and expression host for estI gene	Invitrogen Canada
L. casei CL96	Wild type; source of estI gene	This study
M. extorquens ATCC 55366	Wild type; cloning host for expression of estI gene	American Type Culture Collection
P. pastoris X-33	Wild type; cloning host for expression of estI gene	Invitrogen Canada
Plasmids
pCWL70	Positive selection vector; Ampr Emr	Choi and Lee, Abstr. 101st Gen. Meet. Am. Soc. Microbiol. 2001
pCESTa	3.3-kb BamHI fragment cloned into BamHI site of pCWL70; Ampr	This study
pET29a	E. coli expression vector; Kmr	Novagen
pCESTb	estI with BamHI and NotI cloned into BamHI-NotI sites of pET29a; Kmr	This study
pCM110	M. extorquens expression vector; Tcr	39
pCESTc	estI with SpeI and ClaI cloned into SpeI-ClaI sites of pCM110; Tcr	This study
pPICZ B	Pichia expression vector; Zeor	Invitrogen Canada
pCESTd	estI with KpnI and NotI cloned into KpnI-NotI sites of pPICZ B; Zeor	This study

^aAmp^r, ampicillin resistant; Em^r, erythromycin resistant; Km^r, kanamycin resistant; Tc^r, tetracycline resistant; Zeo^r, zeocin resistant.