The regulation of microcin B, C and J operons

Microcins are ribosomally encoded small peptide antibiotics produced by Gram(-) enterobacteria. Microcin production-biosynthesis, maturation and secretion to the medium-is encoded by gene clusters organized in operons. Production of the best known plasmid-encoded microcins (MccB, MccC and MccJ) switches on when cells reach the stationary growth phase. This production is doubly regulated at transcriptional level by (a). the growth phase: microcin operons silent/repressed during exponential growth are induced/derepressed when cells sense nutrient starvation and stop exponential growth, and (b). global bacterial regulators acting as inducers or repressors of operon expression. The role played by these regulators (CRP, EmrR, IHF, H-NS, LRP, OmpR, Sigma-38 and SpoT) in the expression of specific microcin operons is reviewed.