The $alpha$-amylase gene, amyL, from Bacillus licheniformis was expressed in Lactobacillus brevis 2.14 and Escherichia coli $DH5{alpha}$ using two different shuttle vectors, pCW4 and pSJE. E. coli transformants (TFs) harboring either $pCW4T{alpha}$ or $pSJET{alpha}$ produced active $alpha$-amylase but L. brevis TFs did not, as determined by enzyme assays and zymography. But amyL transcripts were synthesized in L. brevis TFs. In terms of plasmid stability, pSJE, a theta-type replicon, was more stable than pCW4, an RCR (rolling circle replication) plasmid, in L. brevis without antibiotic selection.