Expression of bacteriophage PhiX174 lysis gene E in Staphylococcus carnosus TM300.

Expression of the cloned PhiX174 gene E causes lysis of the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, which led to the proposal that a two-membrane system is necessary for the protein E lysis function. Gene E was cloned in an E. coli/Bacillus subtilis shuttle vector and expressed in the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus carnosus TM300. Regulated gene E expression had a lethal effect on S. carnosus; however, no lysis was detected, lending support to the hypothesis.