We have identified mutations in three different chromosomal genes of Escherichia coli K12 which reduce sensitivity to microcin B17. Mutations in ompF and ompR genes affected production of an outer membrane porin protein, OmpF, and resulted in reduced sensitivity to a number of other agents (colicins, bacteriophages) besides microcin B17. The third class of mutants were specifically and highly resistant to microcin B17. The mutations in these strains were mapped to a gene (sbmA), located at 8.7 min on the E. coli K12 chromosome, which is closely linked to phoA. The wild-type sbmA allele was cloned into multiple copy number plasmids, and its location within the cloned DNA fragment was further defined by mutagenesis with MiniMudII1681. These insertion mutations resulted in in-frame fusions between the sbmA and lacZ genes, thereby allowing us to determine the direction of sbmA gene transcription. Plasmids carrying these gene fusions produced low levels of beta-galactosidase, indicating that the sbmA gene is poorly expressed. We have been unable to identify the sbmA gene product, but indirect evidence indicates that it might be an envelope protein involved in microcin uptake.

Microcin H47 (MccH47) is a novel microcin antibiotic produced by a natural Escherichia coli isolate. In contrast to all the other colicins and microcins examined to date, which are plasmid encoded, the genes for MccH47 synthesis and immunity are located on the chromosome. These genetic determinants were cloned and shown to extend over a continuous DNA region of ca. 10 kb.

Microcins are ribosomally synthesized peptide antibiotics that are produced by enterobacterial strains. Although the first studies concentrated on plasmid-encoded activities, in the last years three chromosomeencoded microcins have been described: H47, E492, and M. Here, a new microcin, I47, is presented as a fourth member of this group. Common features exhibited by chromosome-encoded microcins were searched for. The comparison of the genetic clusters responsible for microcin production revealed a preserved general scheme. The clusters essentially comprise a pair of activity-immunity genes which determine antibiotic specificity and a set of microcin maturation and secretion genes which are invariably present and whose protein products are highly homologous among the different producing strains. A strict functional relationship between the maturation and secretion pathways of microcins H47, I47, and E492 was demonstrated through genetic analyses, which included heterologous complementation assays. The peptide precursors of these microcins share a maturation process which implies the addition of a catecholate siderophore of the salmochelin type. Microcins thus acquire the ability to enter gram-negative cells through the catechol receptors. In addition, they employ a common mode of secretion to reach the external milieu by means of a type I export apparatus. The results presented herein lead us to propose that chromosome-encoded microcins constitute a defined subgroup of peptide antibiotics which are strictly related by their modes of synthesis, secretion, and uptake.

The microcin H47 genetic determinants span a DNA region of ca. 10 kb and represent the first description of an enterobacterial antibiotic system located in the chromosome of the producing strain. Transcriptional and translational fusions to lacZ showed a complex transcriptional organization of the microcin H47 system. Complementation tests identified six genes that are necessary for the production of the antibiotic; the products of two of them are involved in the export of microcin to the extracellular medium. The immunity determinant was located in an 0.8-kb DNA fragment. There is a putative "silent region" of ca. 3 kb inside the system that could not be clearly related to any antibiotic function. Protein products were identified and assigned to three production genes and also to a gene from the silent region.