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Domain function dissection and catalytic properties of Listeria monocytogenes p60 protein with bacteriolytic activity

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Abstract

The major extracellular protein p60 of Listeria monocytogenes (Lm-p60) is an autolysin that can hydrolyze the peptidoglycan of bacterial cell wall and has been shown to be required for L. monocytogenes virulence. The predicted three-dimensional structure of Lm-p60 showed that Lm-p60 could be split into two independent structural domains at the amino acid residue 270. Conserved motif analysis showed that V30, D207, S395, and H444 are the key amino acid residues of the corresponding motifs. However, not only the actual functions of these two domains but also the catalytic properties of Lm-p60 are unclear. We try to express recombinant Lm-p60 and identify the functions of two domains by residue substitution (V30A, D207A, S395A, and H444A) and peptide truncation. The C-terminal domain was identified as catalytic element and N-terminal domain as substrate recognition and binding element. Either N-terminal domain truncation or C-terminal domain truncation presents corresponding biological activity. The catalytic activity of Lm-p60 with a malfunctioned substrate-binding domain was decreased, while the substrate binding was not affected by a mulfunctioned catalytic domain. With turbidimetric method, we determined the optimal conditions for the bacteriolytic activity of Lm-p60 against Micrococcus lysodeikficus. The assay for the effect of Lm-p60 on the bacteriolytic activity of lysozyme revealed that the combined use of Lm-p60 protein with lysozyme showed a strong synergistic effect on the bacteriolytic activity.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Professor Trinad Chakraborty and Professor Guoqiang Zhu for their generously providing L. monocytogenes and B. subtilis strains, respectively. We are obliged to the anonymous reviewers of Appl Microbiol Biotechnol for their constructive comments.

Funding

This work was funded in part by the National Science Foundation of China (30870054, 31170073), Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

Conflict of interest

All the authors of this paper declare they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participant or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Zoonosis; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Minfeng Yu, Jinrong Zuo, Hao Gu, Minliang Guo & Yuelan Yin

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  1. Minfeng Yu
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  2. Jinrong Zuo
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Correspondence to Minliang Guo.

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Yu, M., Zuo, J., Gu, H. et al. Domain function dissection and catalytic properties of Listeria monocytogenes p60 protein with bacteriolytic activity. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 10527–10537 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6967-5

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