We investigated the function of maltose ABC transporter system encoded by malEFG-a and the effect of its overexpression on antibiotic production in Streptomyces avermitilis. A malEFG-a deletion mutant was unable to grow in a minimal medium with maltose as sole carbon source and produce avermectin. Maltose utilization and avermectin production were restored by introduction of a single copy of malEFG-a. RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of malE-a was induced by maltose, and was strongly repressed by glucose. When multi-copy, integrative malEFG-a gene expression vectors were introduced into wildtype strain ATCC31267 and ivermectin-producer OI-31, antibiotic production increased by 2.6- to 3.3-fold and the time required for fermentation decreased by about 10%. The overexpression of malEFG-a improved the utilization rate of starch, and thereby enhanced avermectin production. Such an approach would be useful for the improvement of commercial antibiotic production using starch as the main carbon source in the fermentation process. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.