Acidocin B, a bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus M46, was originally reported to be a linear peptide composed of 59 amino acid residues. However, its high sequence similarity to gassericin A, a circular bacteriocin from Lactobacillus gasseri LA39, suggested that acidocin B might be circular as well. Acidocin B was purified from culture supernatant by a series of hydrophobic interaction chromatographic steps. Its circular nature was ascertained by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionizationtime of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) sequencing. The peptide sequence was found to consist of 58 amino acids with a molecular mass of 5,621.5 Da. The sequence of the acidocin B biosynthetic gene cluster was also determined and showed high nucleotide sequence similarity to that of gassericin A. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) solution structure of acidocin B in sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles was elucidated, revealing that it is composed of four ␣-helices of similar length that are folded to form a compact, globular bundle with a central pore. This is a three-dimensional structure for a member of subgroup II circular bacteriocins, which are classified based on their isoelectric points of ϳ7 or lower.Comparison of acidocin B with carnocyclin A, a subgroup I circular bacteriocin with four ␣-helices and a pI of 10, revealed differences in the overall folding. The observed variations could be attributed to inherent diversity in their physical properties, which also required the use of different solvent systems for three-dimensional structural elucidation. C ircular bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides that are ribosomally synthesized by bacteria and are posttranslationally modified to release a leader peptide and form a peptide bond between the N and C termini. These peptides exhibit antimicrobial activity against a broad range of Gram-positive bacteria, including Listeria spp. and Clostridium spp., which are common pathogens causing food-borne diseases (1). In addition, the circular nature of these bacteriocins imparts enhanced stability against proteolytic degradation and denaturation due to extreme temperature and pH conditions relative to linear forms (2). They thus serve as promising alternatives to traditional antimicrobial agents for food, medical, and industrial applications (3).A number of circular bacteriocins that are composed of 58 to 70 amino acid residues have been identified to date, including enterocin AS-48 (4), gassericin A (5), circularin A (6), butyrivibriocin AR10 (7), uberolysin (8), carnocyclin A (9), lactocyclicin Q (10), garvicin ML (11), leucocyclicin Q (12), amylocyclicin (13), and aureocyclicin 4185 (14). Another peptide exhibiting Nto C-terminal cyclization is subtilosin A (15). It is, however, considered a member of the sactipeptides, which represent a class of peptides containing cross-links between cysteine sulfurs and ␣-carbons (16). The structure and genetics of circular bacteriocins were reviewed previously (2). More recently, a re...