Figure 1. Import of colicin-like bacteriocins.

Specificity of CLBs is mediated by binding a receptor in the outer membrane of a target cell. An adjacent translocator will then mediate transport into the periplasm. Energy for this transport is provided by either the Tol system for group A CLBs or by the Ton system for group B CLBs. Pore-forming colicin-like bacteriocins then insert into the inner membrane to disrupt the proton motive force (pmf) while nucleases translocate into the cytoplasm. Adapted from ref. [36].