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. 1996 Apr;178(7):2102–2107. doi: 10.1128/jb.178.7.2102-2107.1996

An O-antigen processing function for Wzx (RfbX): a promising candidate for O-unit flippase.

D Liu 1, R A Cole 1, P R Reeves 1
PMCID: PMC177911  PMID: 8606190

Abstract

O antigen is the major cell surface antigen of gram-negative bacteria, and the genes responsible for its synthesis are located in a single gene cluster. The wzx (rbfX) gene, which is characteristic of the major class of O-antigen gene clusters, encodes a hydrophobic protein with 12 potential transmembrane segments. We demonstrate that a wzx mutant accumulates undecaprenol pyrophosphate-linked O units which appear to be on the cytoplasmic side of the cytoplasmic membrane, suggesting that the wzx gene encodes a flippase for O-unit translocation across that membrane.

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Selected References

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