Molecular evolution of lytic enzymes of Streptococcus pneumoniae and its bacteriophages

A 2.9-kilobase Acc I fragment of the DNA of the pneumococcal bacteriophage Cp-1, containing the cpl gene, hybridizes with the lytA gene encoding the pneumococcal amidase. The nucleotide sequence of the cpl gene of Cp-1, encoding a muramidase (CPL), has been determined. The 3' regions of the cpl and lytA coding sequences show considerable nucleotide sequence homology and the carboxyl-terminal domains of the deduced amino acid sequences of these lysins are quite similar: 73 of the carboxyl-terminal 142 amino acid residues are identical, and of the 69 substitutions, 55 are conservative. Comparisons between CPL, the pneumococcal amidase, and the muramidase of the fungus Chalaropsis sp. (an enzyme that also degrades the pneumococcal cell wall) strongly suggest that the carboxyl-terminal domains of CPL and of the amidase might be responsible for the specific recognition of choline-containing cell walls, as well as for the noncompetitive inhibition of the catalytic activity of these enzymes by the pneumococcal lipoteichoic acid or by high concentrations of choline. In addition, the active center of these enzymes should be located in their amino-terminal domains. Our results suggest an evolutionary relationship between phage and host lysins.