Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2000, p. 2565-2571, Vol. 66, No. 6
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Immunologie der Universität Bonn, D-53105 Bonn, Germany
Received 29 November 1999/Accepted 4 April 2000
The biosynthetic gene cluster (12.3 kb) of mersacidin, a lanthionine-containing antimicrobial peptide, is located on the chromosome of the producer, Bacillus sp. strain HIL Y-85,54728 in a region that corresponds to 348° on the chromosome of Bacillus subtilis 168. It consists of 10 open reading frames and contains, in addition to the previously described mersacidin structural gene mrsA (G. Bierbaum, H. Brötz, K.-P. Koller, and H.-G. Sahl, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 127:121-126, 1995), two genes, mrsM and mrsD, coding for enzymes involved in posttranslational modification of the prepeptide; one gene, mrsT, coding for a transporter with an associated protease domain; and three genes, mrsF, mrsG, and mrsE, encoding a group B ABC transporter that could be involved in producer self-protection. Additionally, three regulatory genes are part of the gene cluster, i.e., mrsR2 and mrsK2, which encode a two-component regulatory system which seems to be necessary for the transcription of the mrsFGE operon, and mrsR1, which encodes a protein with similarity to response regulators. Transcription of mrsA sets in at early stationary phase (between 8 and 16 h of culture).
Present address: Abt. Biotechnik, Pharma-Zentrale GmbH, D-58313
Herdecke, Germany.
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