2. Department of Microbiology, University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Medicine, Columbia, MO 65212 U.S.A. Tel.(314)882-4133;1. Department of Biochemistry, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 U.S.A. Tel. (415)642-7460
Abstract:
We have cloned genes responsible for enterobactin synthesis (entD) and transport (fepA,fes) from Escherichia coli K-12. Relevant recombinant plasmids enabled EntD- and transport-defective mutants to grow on iron-limiting medium. Subcloning and deletion analysis demonstrated that the gene order is entD-fepA-fes. Protein synthesis studies in minicells suggest that FepA is first translated as an Mr 84 000 precursor, which is subsequently cleaved to the active Mr 81 000 receptor; the fes gene product is an Mr 44 000 protein; no polypeptide has been identified as the entD gene product.