The tet(K) gene of plasmid pT181 of Staphylococcus aureus encodes an efflux protein that contains 14 transmembrane helices.

The corrected DNA sequence of the tet(K) structural gene, encoding the tetracycline efflux protein from Staphylococcus aureus, is reported. The Tet(K) protein is homologous to related tetracycline efflux proteins throughout the protein, including at the C-terminal end. Hydropathy plotting now clearly indicates that the Tet(K) protein contains 14 transmembrane alpha-helices.