Journal of Bacteriology, December 1999, p. 7346-7355, Vol. 181, No. 23
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology, Beaverton, Oregon 97006-8921,1 and Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G2, Canada2
Received 8 July 1999/Accepted 3 September 1999
Bacillus subtilis JH642 and a wild strain of B. subtilis called 22a both produce an antilisterial peptide that
can be purified by anion-exchange and gel filtration chromatography.
Amino acid analysis confirmed that the substance was the cyclic
bacteriocin subtilosin. A mutant defective in production of the
substance was isolated from a plasmid gene disruption library. The
plasmid insertion conferring the antilisterial-peptide-negative
phenotype was located in a seven-gene operon (alb, for
antilisterial bacteriocin) residing immediately downstream from the
sbo gene, which encodes the precursor of subtilosin. An
insertion mutation in the sbo gene also conferred loss of
antilisterial activity. Comparison of the presubtilosin and mature
subtilosin sequences suggested that certain residues undergo unusual
posttranslational modifications unlike those occurring during the
synthesis of class I (lantibiotic) or some class II bacteriocins. The
putative products of the genes of the operon identified show
similarities to peptidases and transport proteins that may function in
processing and export. Two alb gene products resemble
proteins that function in pyrroloquinoline quinone biosynthesis. The
use of lacZ-alb and lacZ-sbo gene fusions,
along with primer extension analysis, revealed that the
sbo-alb genes are transcribed from a major promoter,
residing upstream of sbo, that is very likely utilized by
the
A form of RNA polymerase. The sbo and
alb genes are negatively regulated by the global transition
state regulator AbrB and are also under positive autoregulation that is
not mediated by the subtilosin peptide but instead requires one or more
of the alb gene products.
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