Resistance to bacitracin as modulated by an Escherichia coli homologue of the bacitracin ABC transporter BcrC subunit from Bacillus licheniformis

Abstract

A small open reading frame from the Escherichia coli chromosome, bcrC(EC), encodes a homologue to the BcrC subunit of the bacitracin permease from Bacillus licheniformis. We show that disruption of the chromosomal bcrC(EC) gene causes bacitracin sensitivity and, conversely, that BcrC(EC) confers bacitracin resistance when expressed from a multicopy plasmid.