Identification and functional analysis of the S-layer protein SplA of Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American Foulbrood of honey bees.

ABSTRACT: The gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae is the etiological agent of American Foulbrood (AFB), a globally occurring, deathly epizootic of honey bee brood. AFB outbreaks are predominantly caused by two genotypes of P. larvae, ERIC I and ERIC II, with P. larvae ERIC II being the more virulent genotype on larval level. Recently, comparative proteome analyses have revealed that P. larvae ERIC II but not ERIC I might harbour a functional S-layer protein, named SplA. We here determine the genomic sequence of splA in both genotypes and demonstrate by in vitro self-assembly studies of recombinant and purified SplA protein in combination with electron-microscopy that SplA is a true S-layer protein self-assembling into a square 2D lattice. The existence of a functional S-layer

SUBMITTER: Poppinga L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3355101 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature