The cryptic general secretory pathway (gsp) operon of Escherichia coli K-12 encodes functional proteins

Expression of the Escherichia coli K-12 operon gene gspO using the lacZ promoter on plasmids has identified a protein similar to several type IV prepilin peptidases. The gene induced the cleavage of two known prepilin peptidase substrates. Meanwhile, expression of the pulG homolog gspG has resulted in the production of a specific protein recognized by the PulG antiserum.