We identified and biochemically characterized a novel surface-localized autolysin from Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4b, an 86-kDa protein consisting of 774 amino acids and known from our previous studies as the target (designated IspC) of the humoral immune response to listerial infection. Recombinant IspC, expressed in Escherichia coli, was purified and used to raise specific rabbit polyclo...

Bacterial pathogens produce complex carbohydrate capsules to protect against bactericidal immune molecules. Paradoxically, the pneumococcal capsule sensitizes the bacterium to antimicrobial peptides found on epithelial surfaces. Here we show that upon interaction with antimicrobial peptides, encapsulated pneumococci survive by removing capsule from the cell surface within minutes in a process d...

Extracellular DNA (eDNA), a by-product of cell lysis, was recently established as a critical structural component of the Enterococcus faecalis biofilm matrix. Here, we describe fratricide as the governing principle behind gelatinase (GelE)-mediated cell death and eDNA release. GFP reporter assays confirmed that GBAP (gelatinase biosynthesis-activating pheromone) quorum non-responders (GelE-SprE...

The unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is surrounded by a cell wall composed entirely of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins (HRGPs). When the walls of vegetative cells are removed with the enzyme gamete autolysin (g-lysin), they regenerate a matrix within 3-4 hr. In vitro translation of mRNAs isolated from g-lysin-treated cells showed significant increases and decreases in abundance of s...

The usefulness and reliability of partial sequence analysis of the manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase gene (sodA), autolysin (lytA) gene amplification and species-specific PCR based on the D-alanine:D-alanine ligase (ddl) gene for differentiating each member of the mitis group of the genus Streptococcus was investigated. On the phylogenetic tree based on sodA partial sequences (366 bp) fr...

Miltefosine (hexadecylphosphocholine), the first oral drug against visceral leishmaniasis, triggered pneumococcal autolysis at concentrations higher than 2.5 microM. Bactericidal activity was also observed in cultures of other streptococci, although these failed to undergo lysis. The autolysis elicited by miltefosine can be attributed to triggering of the pneumococcal autolysin LytA.

atl is a newly discovered autolysin gene in Staphylococcus aureus. The gene product, ATL, is a unique, bifunctional protein that has an amidase domain and a glucosaminidase domain. It undergoes proteolytic processing to generate two extracellular peptidoglycan hydrolases, a 59-kDa endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase and a 62-kDa N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase. It has been suggested that these ...