Epidermolytic toxin serotype B of Staphylococcus aureus is plasmid-encoded

Abstract The gene coding for epidermolytic toxin serotype B ( etb ) was cloned in a plasmid expression vector in Escherichia coli . Its expression was dependent on the vector plasmid's trc promoter. A polypeptide immunochemically indistinguishable from the purified staphylococcal toxin and with the same molecular weight was predominantly localized in the periplasm of E. coli . The etb gene resides on a 1.7 kb Hin dIII fragment of the 42 kb plasmid pTC142 present in the parental Staphylococcus aureus strain.