Region X, the cell-wall-attachment part of staphylococcal protein A

The sequence of region X of staphylococcal protein A has been determined. The hypothesis has been put forward that this region spans the Staphylococcus aureus cell wall and is responsible for the binding to the peptidoglycan. The primary amino acid sequence of region X was determined for two strains exhibiting cell-wall-bound protein A, Cowan I and 8325-4. The sequence determination of the Cowan I material is partial and was performed by Edman degradation, in contrast to the sequence of the 8325-4 material which was completely analyzed by nucleotide sequencing of the corresponding gene. The region consists of two structurally different domains, a highly repetitive region (Xr), with an octapeptide structure repeated approximately 12 times, and a C-terminal domain (Xc) with an unique sequence. A comparison between the two strains reveals a high mutual homology as well as a high internal homology between the octapeptide structures. Six out of eight amino acids are identical in the repetition of this structure throughout region Xr in both proteins and the other two are changed in a rather regular pattern.