title: Characterization of anti-Legionella activity of warnericin RK and delta-lysin I from Staphylococcus warneri.
abstract: Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, is a waterborne bacteria. It can multiply in man-made water systems and infect people who inhale contaminated droplets. We have previously reported a Staphylococcus warneri strain that display an anti-Legionella activity. In this work, we characterized three anti-Legionella peptides that are produced by S. warneri. One peptide, warnericin RK, is original, while the two others are delta-lysin I and delta-lysin II, whose genes were previously described. Due to high sequence similarity of the two delta-lysins, further characterization was performed only on delta-lysin I. Warnericin RK and delta-lysin I displayed the same antibacterial spectrum, which is almost restricted to the Legionella genus. Also, both peptides have a hemolytic activity. These results led to the hypothesis that warnericin RK and delta-lysin I share a similar mode of action, and that Legionella should have a specific feature that may explain the high specificity of these antibacterial peptides.
authors.affiliation: Université de Poitiers, Laboratoire de Chimie et Microbiologie de l'Eau, CNRS UMR 6008, 40 avenue du recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers, France.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Verdon
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Berjeaud
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lacombe
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Héchard
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006461:Hemolysis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D010455:Peptides; C025994:delta hemolysin protein, Staphylococcus aureus