Help
Add this page to your book
Show book (0 pages)
Suggest pagesAutolysin
An autolysin is an enzyme that hydrolyzes (and breaks down) the components of a biological cell or a tissue in which it is produced. It is similar in function to a lysozyme.
Autolysins exist in all bacteria containing peptidoglycan. The peptidoglycan matrix is very rigid, so these enzymes break down the peptidoglycan matrix in small sections so that growth and division of cells can occur. Autolysins do this by hydrolyzing the β-(1,4) bond between N-acetylmuramic acid and N-acetylglucosamine molecules. Autolysins are naturally produced by peptidoglycan containing bacteria, but excessive amounts will degrade the peptidoglycan matrix and cause the cell to burst due to osmotic pressure. Gram positive bacteria regulate autolysins with teichoic acid molecules attached to the tetrapeptide of the peptidoglycan matrix.[1]
[edit] Examples
[edit] References
- ^ Smith, Thomas; Steve Blackman, Simon Foster (2000). "Autolysins of Bacillus subtilis: multiple enzymes with multiple functions". Microbiology (Reading: Society for General Microbiology) 146 ( Pt 2) (146): 249–262. PMID 10708363. http://mic.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/146/2/249. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
[edit] External links
- "Smith Lab Methods: Autolysin". http://www.dartmouth.edu/~esmith/methods_autolysin.html. Retrieved 2008-06-07.[dead link]
 |
This cell biology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
