Disease relevance of mdtK

• Cells of E. coli transformed with a plasmid carrying the norM gene showed elevated energy-dependent efflux of norfloxacin [1].
• Cloning and characterization of the Burkholderia vietnamiensis norM gene encoding a multi-drug efflux protein [2].
• Expression of B. vietnamiensis norM in an Escherichia coli acrAB deletion mutant complemented its norfloxacin hypersensitivity, indicating that the protein functions in drug efflux [2].
• Two putative proteins (NorMI and NorMII) similar to the multidrug efflux protein NorM of Vibrio parahaemolyticus are encoded by the Brucella melitensis 16 M genome [3].

High impact information on mdtK

• We cloned a gene for a putative norfloxacin efflux protein from the chromosomal DNA of V. parahaemolyticus by using an Escherichia coli mutant lacking the major multidrug efflux system AcrAB as the host and sequenced the gene (norM) [1].
• However, no effect on antibiotic sensitivity other than sensitivity to polymyxin B was observed in the B. vietnamiensis norM mutant [2].
• We demonstrate that increased polymyxin sensitivity in B. vietnamiensis was associated with the presence of tetracycline in the growth medium, a phenotype that was partially suppressed by expression of the norM gene [2].

References