Contribution of the Staphylococcus aureus Atl AM and GL murein hydrolase activities in cell division, autolysis, and biofilm formation.

ABSTRACT: The most prominent murein hydrolase of Staphylococcus aureus, AtlA, is a bifunctional enzyme that undergoes proteolytic cleavage to yield two catalytically active proteins, an amidase (AM) and a glucosaminidase (GL). Although the bifunctional nature of AtlA has long been recognized, most studies have focused on the combined functions of this protein in cell wall metabolism and biofilm development. In this study, we generated mutant derivatives of the clinical S. aureus isolate, UAMS-1, in which one or both of the AM and GL domains of AtlA have been deleted. Examination of these strains revealed that each mutant exhibited growth rates comparable to the parental strain, but showed clumping phenotypes and lysis profiles that were distinct from the parental strain and each other, suggesting di

SUBMITTER: Bose JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3409170 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature