Acetate transporter protein; part of the gene cluster that mediates the biosynthesis of patulin, an acetate-derived tetraketide mycotoxin produced by several fungal species that shows antimicrobial properties against several bacteria (PubMed:25120234, PubMed:30100914, PubMed:25625822, PubMed:30680886). May be involved in the uptake of acetate, a substrate for the synthesis of 6-methylsalicylic acid by the polyketide synthase patK (By similarity). Mycotoxin biosynthesis; patulin biosynthesis. Expression is correlated with the production of patulin (PubMed:25120234). Expression is positively regulated by the secondary metabolism regulator laeA (PubMed:27528575, PubMed:30100914). Expression is strongly decreased with increased sucrose concentrations. This decrease is lost in the presence of malic acid (PubMed:30100914). Expression is increased with pH changes from 2.5 to 3.5 in the presence of a limiting concentration of sucrose, 50 mM (PubMed:30100914). Natural phenols present in apple fruits such as chlorogenic acid or the flavonoid epicatechin modulate patulin biosynthesis. They increase expression in the absence of sucrose, have little impact in the presence of 15 mM sucrose, and decrease expression in 175 mM sucrose (PubMed:30100914). Expression is positively regulated by the patulin cluster-specific transcription factor patL (PubMed:25625822). Finally, expression is also positively regulated by the velvet family proteins transcription regulators veA, velB, velC, but not vosA (PubMed:30680886). Strongly reduces the production of patulin. Patulin was originally used as an antibiotic and specifically trialed to be used against the common cold, but it is no longer used for that purpose since it has been shown to induce immunological, neurological and gastrointestinal effects (PubMed:15082620). Genotoxic effects of patulin with dose-dependent increase in DNA strand breaks in brain, liver and kidneys have been detected in mice (PubMed:22222931). However, more recently, it has been proposed that patulin might also have anti-tumor properties (PubMed:26619846). Belongs to the acetate uptake transporter (AceTr) (TC 2.A.96) family.