Cloning and nucleotide sequence of the gene for acidocin 8912, a bacteriocin from Lactobacillus acidophilus TK8912.

Acidocin 8912 is a bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus TK8912. The acidocin 8912 structural gene, acdT, was cloned and determined. It was located on the 14-kb plasmid pL103 and encoded a 46 amino acid precursor including a 20 amino acid N-terminal extension. The precursor sequence of the acdT gene shows a conservation of the general structural characteristics of the bacteriocin precursors from some lactic acid bacteria.