Members of this family are integral membrane proteins with 6 predicted transmembrane helices. Some members of this family have been shown to be essential for bacterial competence in uptake of extracellular DNA. These proteins may transport DNA across the cell membrane. These proteins contain a highly conserved motif in the amino terminal transmembrane region that has two histidines that may form a metal binding site.
Lu S et al.(2020). "CDD/SPARCLE: the conserved domain database in 2020.",