Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 19686739
FEBS Lett. 2009 Sep;583(18):3033-8
Autolysins are potentially lethal enzymes that partially hydrolyze peptidoglycan for incorporation of new precursors and septum cleavage after cell division. Here, we explored the impact of peptidoglycan O-acetylation on the enzymatic activities of Enterococcus faecalis major autolysins, the N-acetylglucosaminidase AtlA and the N-acetylmuramidase AtlB. We constructed isogenic strains with various O-acetylation levels and used them as substrates to assay E. faecalis autolysin activities. Peptidoglycan O-acetylation had a marginal inhibitory impact on the activities of these enzymes. In contrast, removal of cell wall glycopolymers increased the AtlB activity (37-fold), suggesting that these polymers negatively control the activity of this enzyme.