Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5644-5651, Vol. 181, No. 18
Department of Molecular Microbiology and
Biotechnology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv
University, Ramat Aviv, Israel,1 and
Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester
LE1 7RH, United Kingdom2
Received 7 December 1998/Accepted 14 July 1999
Myxococcus xanthus is a gram-negative soil bacterium
that produces the polyketide antibiotic TA. In this study, we describe the analysis of an M. xanthus gene which encodes a
homologue of the prolipoprotein signal peptidase II (SPase II;
lsp). Overexpression of the M. xanthus SPase II
in Escherichia coli confers high levels of globomycin
resistance, confirming its function as an SPase II. The M. xanthus gene encoding the lsp homologue is
nonessential for growth, as determined by specific gene disruption. It
has been mapped to the antibiotic TA gene cluster, and the disrupted mutants do not produce the antibiotic, indicating a probable
involvement in TA production. These results suggest the existence of
more than one SPase II protein in M. xanthus, where one is
a system-specific SPase II (for TA biosynthesis).
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
A Nonessential Signal Peptidase II (Lsp) of Myxococcus
xanthus Might Be Involved in Biosynthesis of the Polyketide
Antibiotic TA
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dept. of
Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, George S. Wise Faculty of
Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel. Phone:
972-3-6409379. Fax: 972-3-6414138. E-mail:
eliora{at}post.tau.ac.il.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»