The tetracycline efflux protein encoded by thetet(K) gene fromStaphylococcus aureusis a metal-tetracycline/H+antiporter

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Abstract
The tet(K) gene from Staphylococcus aureus was highly expressed in Escherichia coli by an alteration of its initiation codon from TTG to ATG and its ribosome-binding sequence from GAGG to GGAGG [Noguchi, N. et al. (1994) Biol. Pharm. Bull. 17, 352–355]. The inverted membrane vesicles prepared from the tet(K)-expressing cells showed respiration-dependent [3H]tetracycline transport comparable to the vesicles from the tet(B)-expressing cells. The affinity of Tet(K) vesicles to tetracycline was the same as that of Tet(B) vesicles, whereas the former Vmax value was about 60% of the latter one. Contrary to Tet(B) vesicles, Tet(K) vesicles showed no significant minocycline uptake, which was consistent with the low minocycline resistance of the Tet(K)-producing cells. The tetracycline transport mediated by Tet(K) vesicles was coupled with proton transport and the translocation of 60Co2+ ions as well as in Tet(B) vesicles. This observation indicates that the class K tetracycline resistance determinant from Gram-positive bacteria also encodes a metaltetracycline/H+ antiporter that is functionally similar to that encoded by tet(B), although there is a considerable difference in the primary sequences and the putative topologies of these Tet proteins