Bacteriophage endolysin Lyt μ1/6: characterization of the C-terminal binding domain

Abstract The gene product of orf50 from actinophage μ1/6 of Streptomyces aureofaciens is a putative endolysin, Lyt μ1/6. It has a two-domain modular structure, consisting of an N-terminal catalytic and a C-terminal cell wall binding domain (CBD). Comparative analysis of Streptomyces phage endolysins revealed that they all have a modular structure and contain functional C-terminal domains with conserved amino acids, probably associated with their binding function. A blast analysis of Lyt μ1/6 in conjunction with secondary and tertiary structure prediction disclosed the presence of a PG_binding_1 domain within the CBD. The sequence of the C-terminal domain of lyt μ1/6 and truncated forms of it were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The ability of these CBD variants fused to GFP to bind to the surface of S. aureofaciens NMU was shown by specific binding assays. Fusion of the phage endolysin binding domain with the green fluorescent protein results in chimeras that are able to recognize and decorate host Streptomyces aureofaciens cells.