Human-pathogenic bacteria are found in a variety of niches, including free-living, zoonotic, and microbiome environments. Identifying bacterial adaptations that enable invasive disease is an important means of gaining insight into the molecular basis of pathogenesis and understanding pathogen emergence. Staphylococcus saprophyticus, a leading cause of urinary tract infections, can be found in t...

LytA is responsible for the autolysis of many Streptococcus species, including pathogens such as S. pneumoniae, S. pseudopneumoniae and S. mitis. However, how this major autolysin achieves full activity remains unknown. Here, the full-length structure of the S. pneumoniae LytA dimer is reported at 2.1 Å resolution. Each subunit has an N-terminal amidase domain and a C-terminal choline-binding d...

A nationwide surveillance study was undertaken to monitor antimicrobial resistance among clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Korea, with a special focus on vancomycin tolerance. For the 6-month period from March to August 2002, clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae were collected from 11 university hospitals and 1 reference laboratory. One-hundred eighty-eight isolates were measured f...

The LytC lysozyme of Streptococcus pneumoniae forms part of the autolytic system of this important pathogen. This enzyme is composed of a C-terminal CM (catalytic module), belonging to the GH25 family of glycosyl hydrolases, and an N-terminal CBM (choline-binding module), made of eleven homologous repeats, that specifically recognizes the choline residues that are present in pneumococcal teicho...

Virolysin is a lysin which appears in Staphylococcus aureus K(1) cells infected with phage P(14); together with phage, virolysin is released from phage-infected cells at the time of lysis. Autolysin is a lysin formed by uninfected cells of the K(1) strain; autolysin is released from uninfected cells by autolysis. They show the following similarities: Both agents act within the genus Micrococcus...

Evidence is mounting in support of the inoculum effect (i.e., slow killing at large initial inocula [CFUo]) for numerous antimicrobials against a variety of pathogens. Our objectives were to (i) determine the impact of the CFUo of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on ceftazidime activity and (ii) to develop and validate a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PKPD) mathematical model accommodating a range of C...

Chlamydomonas lytic enzyme of the cell wall (gamete wall-autolysin) is responsible for shedding of cell walls during mating of opposite mating-type gametes. This paper reports some topographic aspects of lytic enzyme in cells. Both vegetative and gametic cells contain the same wall lytic enzyme. The purified enzyme is a glycoprotein with an apparent molecular mass of 67 kD by gel filtration and...