The erm proteins confer resistance to the MLS (macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B) antibiotics in various microorganisms, including pathogens, through dimethylation of a single adenine residue (A2085: Bacillus subtilis coordinate) of the 23S rRNA to reduce the affinity of antibiotics, thereby enabling the cells to escape from the antibiotics' action, and this mechanism is predominantly adopted by microorganisms resistant to AILS antibiotics. ErmSF methyltransferase is one of the four gene products synthesized by Streptomyces fradiae NRRL 2338 to be resistant to its autogenous antibiotic, tylosin. In order to have a convenient source for the purification of milligram amounts, we expressed ErmSF in Escherichia coli using a T7 promoter-driven expression vector system, pET 23b, and the protein was expressed with a carboxyterminal addition of six histidine residues in order to facilitate purification. Expression at 22degreesC reduced the formation of insoluble aggregate, inclusion body, and resulted in accumulation of soluble hexahistidine-ErmSF up to 30% of total cell protein after 18 h. Metalchelation chromatography yielded 126 mg of hexahistidine-ErmSF per lit er of culture with a purity slightly greater than 95%. To examine the function of ErmSF in vivo and in vitro, its activity in E. coli (antibiotic susceptibility assay) and in vitro methyltransferase activity using in vitro-produced B. subtilis domain V, 434-, 257-, and 243-nt RNAs were investigated. The ErmSF in E. coli conferred resistance to erythromycin, whereas E. coli harboring an empty vector, pET23b, was susceptible. The purified recombinant protein successfully methylated domain V of 23S rRNA, which is known to contain all of the substrate elements recognized and to be methylated by erm proteins. However, the truncated substrates were methylated with decreased efficiencies. Almost all of domain V was monomethylated with less than 0.2 pM S-[methyl-H-3]adenosylmethionine concentration. The roles of three structurally divided regions of domain V in recognition and methylation by ErmSF are proposed through kinetic studies using RNA substrates, in which each region is deleted, under the monomethylation condition. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).