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Volume 148, Issue 10

Influence of proteins Bsp and FemH on cell shape and peptidoglycan composition in group B streptococcus

cThe GenBank accession number for the sequence reported in this paper is AJ305309.

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Abstract

Group B streptococcus (GBS) is surrounded by a capsule. However, little is known about peptidoglycan metabolism in these bacteria. In the present study, a 65 kDa protein was isolated from the culture supernatant of GBS and N-terminally sequenced, permitting isolation of the corresponding gene, termed . The gene was located close to another gene, designated , and reverse transcription-PCR revealed a bicistronic transcriptional organization for both genes. The Bsp protein was detected in the culture supernatant from 31 tested clinical isolates of GBS, suggesting a wide distribution of Bsp in these bacteria. Overexpression of resulted in lens-shaped GBS cells, indicating a role for in controlling cell morphology. Insertional disruption of resulted in a reduction of the L-alanine content of the peptidoglycan, suggesting that is involved in the incorporation of L-alanine residues in the interpeptide chain of the peptidoglycan of GBS.

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Keyword(s): fem-like genes , GBS, group B streptococcus , murein hydrolase and Streptococcus agalactiae
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2002-10-01
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Influence of proteins Bsp and FemH on cell shape and peptidoglycan composition in group B streptococcusccThe GenBank accession number for the sequence reported in this paper is AJ305309.
Microbiology 148, 3245 (2002); https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-148-10-3245
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-10-3245
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