Maturation by LctT is required for biosynthesis of full-length lantibiotic lacticin 481.

ABSTRACT

In lantibiotic lacticin 481 biosynthesis, LctT cleaves the precursor peptide and exports mature lantibiotic. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry revealed that a truncated form of lacticin 481 is produced in the absence of LctT or after cleavage site inactivation. Production of truncated lacticin 481 is 4-fold less efficient, and its specific activity is about 10-fold lower.