It was previously proposed that autolysin's primary role in the virulence of pneumococci was to release pneumolysin to an extracellular location. This interpretation came into question when pneumolysin was observed to be released in significant amounts from some pneumococci during log-phase growth, because autolysis was not believed to occur at this time. We have reexamined this phenomenon in d...

Staphylococcus aureus remains one of the most common and at the same time the most dangerous bacteria. The spreading antibiotic resistance calls for intensification of research on staphylococcal physiology and development of new strategies for combating this threatening pathogen. We have engineered new chimeric enzymes comprising the enzymatically active domain (EAD) of autolysin LytM from S. a...

Background: IseA from Bacillus subtilis is an inhibitor protein against DL-endopeptidases including synthetic lethal autolysins. Results: We solved the solution structure of IseA using NMR. Titration with LytF DL-endopeptidase indicated interaction sites around the loop region. Conclusion: The IseA structure revealed a novel “hacksaw”-like fold with a characteristic inhibitory loop. Significanc...

Low concentrations of glutaraldehyde (0.1% or higher) blocked cellular and wall autolysis. The site of autolytic activity was studied by allowing cell autolysis to proceed for very short periods (0 to 15 min) before addition of glutaraldehyde. Electron microscopy of ultrathin sections showed that the primary site of autolytic activity was the leading edge of the nascent cross wall. The base of ...

We have recently concluded that a Listeria monocytogenes 86 kDa immunogenic surface protein, IspC, is a cell wall-anchored peptidoglycan hydrolase (autolysin), capable of degrading the cell wall peptidoglycan of the bacterium itself. To determine if this enzyme has any biological functions and/or plays a role in virulence, we in-frame-deleted the ispC gene from the L. monocytogenes chromosome. ...

background and objectives: streptococcus agalactiae is the leading cause of bacterial sepsis and meningitis in newborns and results in pneumonia and bacteremia in adults. a number of s. agalactiae components are involved in colonization of target cells. destruction of peptidoglycan and division of covalently linked daughter cells is mediated by autolysins. in this study, autolytic activity and ...

The lysis of Staphylococcus aureus FDA 209P induced by benzylpenicillin was completely inhibited by cellular lipoteichoic acid isolated from an homologous organism. The cells prevented from penicillin-induced lysis were in static state and did not lose viability. The lipoteichoic acid inhibited either extracellular autolysin activity in culture supernatant or autolysis of whole cells in exponen...

BACKGROUND The role played by pneumolysin and autolysin in pneumococcal meningitis is poorly understood. METHODS A rat model was used to investigate the disease, in which surgical implantation of a cisternal catheter allowed bacterial instillation and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling. RESULTS CSF infection of rats with wild-type pneumococci caused meningitis within 26 h, whereas isogenic ...

Mutants of Streptococcus pneumoniae that contain active autolysin and yet cannot be induced to lyse during treatment with penicillin (Lyt+Tol+ mutants) have been described. We have now shown that these mutants are temperature dependent (32 "C); at 37 "C these bacteria underwent penicillin-induced lysis. In addition, mutants at the lysis-permissive temperature showed the socalled 'paradoxical re...