The tape measure protein of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteriophage vB_SauS-phiIPLA35 has an active muramidase domain

Abstract

Tailed double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) bacteriophages frequently harbor structural proteins displaying peptidoglycan hydrolytic activities. The tape measure protein from Staphylococcus aureus bacteriophage vB_SauS-phiIPLA35 has a lysozyme-like and a peptidase_M23 domain. This report shows that the lysozyme-like domain (TG1) has muramidase activity and exhibits in vitro lytic activity against live S. aureus cells, an activity that could eventually find use in the treatment of infections. © 2012, American Society for Microbiology.