Structure of the pheromone peptide of the Staphylococcus epidermidis agr system

FEBS Letters

Otto, Michael²  Süßmuth, Roderich¹  Götz, Friedrich²  Jung, Günther¹ 

[1] Organische Chemie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;Mikrobielle Genetik, Universität Tübingen, Waldhäuserstr. 70/8, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany

关键词: Agr;    Quorum sensing;    Posttranslational modification;    Pheromone;    Staphylococcus epidermidis;   

DOI  :  10.1016/S0014-5793(98)00145-8

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

The agr quorum-sensing system is responsible for the regulation of several virulence factors in staphylococci, with an extracellular pheromone peptide as signalling molecule. By monitoring the biological activity of synthetic peptides, it could be demonstrated that the pheromone of the agr system in Staphylococcus epidermidis is an octapeptide containing a thiolester linkage between the central cysteine and the C-terminal carboxyl group. The peptide was active at nanomolar concentrations. The N-terminus of the peptide pheromone, which is encoded as part of a protein precursor, proved to be crucial for biological activity.

【 授权许可】

Unknown