Identification of a polymyxin synthetase gene cluster of Paenibacillus polymyxa and heterologous expression of the gene in Bacillus subtilis.

ABSTRACT: Polymyxin, a long-known peptide antibiotic, has recently been reintroduced in clinical practice because it is sometimes the only available antibiotic for the treatment of multidrug-resistant gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. Lack of information on the biosynthetic genes of polymyxin, however, has limited the study of structure-function relationships and the development of improved polymyxins. During whole genome sequencing of Paenibacillus polymyxa E681, a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium, we identified a gene cluster encoding polymyxin synthetase. Here, we report the complete sequence of the gene cluster and its function in polymyxin biosynthesis. The gene cluster spanning the 40.6-kb region consists of five open reading frames, designated pmxA, pmxB, pmxC, pmxD, and pmxE. The pmxC

SUBMITTER: Choi SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2687177 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature