ApnI, a transmembrane protein responsible for subtilomycin immunity, unveils a novel model for lantibiotic immunity.

Subtilomycin was detected from the plant endophytic strain Bacillus subtilis BSn5 and was first reported from B. subtilis strain MMA7. In this study, a gene cluster that has been proposed to be related to subtilomycin biosynthesis was isolated from the BSn5 genome and was experimentally validated by gene inactivation and heterologous expression.