Cloning, sequencing and characterization of the ccpA gene from Enterococcus faecalis

Enzymes involved in the metabolism of complex carbon and energy sources are unnecessary under conditions of abundant, readily metabolisable nutrients such as glucose or fructose. The repression of these enzymes by glucose has been termed carbon catabolite repression. Mechanisms involved in the carbon catabolite repression in Gram-positive bacteria are known to differ from those of Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli. It appears to be mediated by transcriptional repression, requiring trans-acting CcpA, a member of the LacI–GalR family of bacterial regulatory proteins and a cis-acting consensus sequence, designated cre. Here, we report the cloning and characterisation of the chromosomal ccpA gene from Enterococcus faecalis JH2-2. This gene is predicted to encode a 333 amino acids protein with nearly 75% identity to CcpA of Lactobacillus casei.