Bacterial autolysins

Abstract

Bacteria produce multiple enzymes which are capable of hydrolyzing bonds in their own protective peptidoglycan sacculus. The peptidoglycan hydrolases (PGHs) that can provoke bacterial autolysis are named autolysins. This chapter focuses on a few well-characterized PGH systems from Gram-positive bacteria. Most PGHs have a modular structure comprising a catalytic domain and a cell wall binding domain. Since they are able to kill the cells that produce them, their expression and activity need to be tightly regulated. Multiple mechanisms of transcriptional or post-transcriptional regulation have been identified in different bacterial species, and are reviewed in this chapter. Although they play fundamental roles in bacterial physiology, most PGHs studied are dispensable for growth and viability, probably as a result of functional redundancy. PGHs are involved in all the cellular processes requiring peptidoglycan remodelling for bacterial growth and specific PGHs are involved in sporulation or competence in certain bacteria. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.