Functional analysis of antibacterial activity of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens phage endolysin against Gram-negative bacteria

To analyze the antibacterial activity of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens phage endolysin, nine deletion derivatives of the endolysin mere constructed. Each deletion mutant was overexpressed, purified and characterized. The catalytic domain was located on the N-terminal region and the C-terminus had an affinity with the bacterial envelope. The enzymatic activity remained in spite of the deletion of the C-terminal 116-amino acid region; however, the antibacterial activity mas lost. These results indicate that antibacterial action requires both the C-terminal cell-binding and the N-terminal enzymatic activities. (C) 2001 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.