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Publication Abstract from PubMed

The SleB protein is one of two redundant cortex-lytic enzymes (CLEs) that initiate the degradation of cortex peptidoglycan (PG), a process essential for germination of spores of Bacillus species including Bacillus anthracis. SleB has been characterized as a soluble lytic transglycosylase that specifically recognizes spore cortex PG and catalyzes the cleavage of glycosidic bonds between N-acetylmuramic acid (NAM) and N-acetylglucosamine residues with concomitant formation of a 1,6-anhydro bond in the NAM residue. We found that like the full-length Bacillus cereus SleB, the catalytic C-terminal domain (SleB(C)) exhibited high degradative activity on cortex PG in vitro, although SleB's N-terminal domain thought to bind PG was inactive. The 1.85 A crystal structure of SleB(C) reveals an ellipsoid molecule with two distinct domains dominated by either alpha helices or beta strands. The overall fold of SleB closely resembles that of the catalytic domain of the family 1 lytic transglycosylases, but with a completely different topological arrangement. Structural analysis shows that an invariant Glu157 of SleB is in an equivalent position to the catalytic glutamate in other lytic transglycosylases. Indeed, SleB bearing a Glu157-to-Gln mutation lost its cortex degradative activity completely. In addition, the other redundant CLE (called CwlJ) in Bacillus species likely has a similar three-dimensional structure to SleB, including the invariant putative catalytic Glu residue. SleB and CwlJ may offer novel targets for the development of antispore agents.

Crystal Structure of the Catalytic Domain of the Bacillus cereus SleB Protein Important in Cortex Peptidoglycan Degradation During Spore Germination.,Li Y, Jin K, Setlow B, Setlow P, Hao B J Bacteriol. 2012 Jun 22. PMID:22730118^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.