Cloning and Sequencing of a Gene Cluster for the Resistance to Doxorubicin from Streptomyces peucetius subsp. caesius ATCC 27952

The doxorubicin resistance locus from Streptomyces peucetius subsp. caesius (the doxorubicin producer, ATCC 27952) has been cloned. The sequence data over 4.4 kb regions reveals the presence of four possible open reading frames (ORFs). ORF2 and ORF3 would encode proteins containing 329 and 283 amino acids, respectively. The protein encoded by ORF2 has two almost identical ATP binding domains with p-glycoprotein, the product of a multidrug resistance gene from tumor cells, and that encoded by ORF3 has several hydrophobic domains suggesting that it is located in the bacterial membrane. These two remarkable similarities of the gene product to p-glycoprotein of mammalian tumor cells suggest that the two proteins may enable bacteria to extrude a variety of toxic agents, including daunorubicin and doxorubicin, by an ATP dependent efflux mechanism analogous to the multidurg resistance protein of cancer cells.