title: Analysis of enzymatic activities for differentiation of two species of nutritionally variant streptococci, Streptococcus defectivus and Streptococcus adjacens.
abstract: Strains of nutritionally variant streptococci, Streptococcus defectivus (n = 10) and Streptococcus adjacens (n = 20), were studied for the production of glycosidic and proteolytic enzyme activities. S. defectivus strains produced neuraminidase and alpha-fucosidase, while S. adjacens strains produced only neuraminidase. The S. adjacens strains produced a very wide range of proteolytic activities with the ability to hydrolyze the majority of aminopeptidase substrates tested, while S. defectivus strains hydrolyzed only a minority of aminopeptidase substrates. These data provide additional phenotypic characteristics which may be useful in distinguishing between these two species and suggest that they may have different nutritional requirements.
authors.affiliation: RCS Department of Dental Sciences, Faculty of Clinical Dentistry, King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beighton
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Homer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bouvet
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Storey
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D010641:Phenotype; D013045:Species Specificity; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000145:classification* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D009842:Oligopeptides; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; D010450:Endopeptidases