Open AccessThe multiple‐sugar metabolism ( msm ) gene cluster of Streptococcus mutans is transcribed as a single operon
Author(s) -
McLaughlin Robert E.,
Ferretti Joseph J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1996.tb08346.x
Subject(s) - operon , streptococcus mutans , melibiose , regulon , raffinose , genetics , gene , biology , locus (genetics) , gene cluster , microbiology and biotechnology , sugar , bacteria , biochemistry , sucrose , escherichia coli
The multiple‐sugar metabolism ( msm ) locus of Streptococcus mutans constitutes a non‐PTS sugar uptake system responsible for the transport and utilization of raffinose, melibiose and isomaltotrioses. While previous studies have used polar mutations to suggest that these genes are co‐transcribed, there has not been any direct evidence to support this. In this report we present direct evidence that the msm genes can be transcribed as a single operon.