Subject(s)
Acidic Glycosphingolipids/chemistry , Peptidoglycan Glycosyltransferase/analysis , Acidic Glycosphingolipids/chemical synthesis , Carbohydrate Sequence , Molecular Sequence Data , Peptidoglycan Glycosyltransferase/metabolism , Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylmuramic Acid/analogs & derivatives , Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylmuramic Acid/chemical synthesis , Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylmuramic Acid/chemistryABSTRACT
The immunodominant antigen A, IsaA, of Staphylococcus aureus was found to include a putative soluble lytic transglycosylase domain in its C-terminal region. Since the presence of this distinctive domain suggested that the protein might participate in peptidoglycan turnover, as indicated in Gram-negative bacteria, its cellular location was investigated. The protein was found not only in the culture supernatant but also in the cell wall fraction. To estimate its physiological role for the bacterium, its cell surface distribution was studied by immunoelectron microscopy. Protein A-gold particles binding to the immune complex were mainly located on the septal region of the bacterial cell surface. These data suggested that IsaA might be involved in bacterial cell separation through a preferential interaction with peptidoglycan chain.
