RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Inactivation of a New Peptidoglycan Hydrolase Pmp23 Leads to Abnormal Septum Formation in Streptococcus pneumoniae
Pagliero E1, Dublet B2, Frehel C3, Dideberg O4, Vernet T1, *, Di Guilmi AM1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2008Volume: 2
First Page: 107
Last Page: 114
Publisher ID: TOMICROJ-2-107
DOI: 10.2174/1874285800802010107
Article History:
Received Date: 18/7/2008Revision Received Date: 29/7/2008
Acceptance Date: 30/7/2008
Electronic publication date: 22/8/2008
Collection year: 2008

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The bacterial peptidoglycan is the major component of the cell wall which integrity is essential to cell survival. In a previous work, we identified, in the positive-Gram pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae , a unique protein containing a new putative peptidoglycan hydrolytic domain named PECACE (PEptidoglycan CArbohydrate Cleavage Enzyme). In this study, we characterise the physiological function of this protein called Pmp23 (Pneumococcal Membrane Protein of 23 kDa). A cell wall hydrolytic activity is observed with the recombinant protein. Inactivation of the pmp23 gene in the pneumococcus led to a decreased flocculation, an increased sensitivity to β-lactam antibiotics and morphological alterations affecting the formation and localisation of the division septa. Taken together these observations indicate that Pmp23 is a hydrolase whose function is linked to peptidoglycan metabolism at the septum site.