Virolysin: A Virus-Induced Lysin from Staphylococcal Phage Lysates.

Properties and mutation studies of a bacteriophage-derived chimeric recombinant staphylolytic protein P128

“…17 It has previously been reported that although deletion of the cell wall targeting domain of lysostaphin does not interfere Zymography is a method to detect cell wall hydrolase activity on dead cells impregnated in the SDS-PAGE. 37 Our observations of P301 demonstrating activity only on zymogram gel with no CFU reduction are similar to those of Sass and Bierbaum 38 and Raltson et al 39 for a phage endolysin. It is tempting to speculate that the zymogram positive reaction with the P301 protein could be due to the extended time of exposure (more than 16 h) of the protein to the impregnated substrate while the insignificant activity of P301 in the viability assay (CFU drop) ( Table 1) could be attributed to less exposure of the P301 protein to the live cells (1 h) during the viability assay experimental conditions.…”

The Recombinant Phage Lysin LysK Has a Broad Spectrum of Lytic Activity against Clinically Relevant Staphylococci, Including Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

“…In the 1950s, a lytic enzyme, "virolysin," obtained from phage lysates after phage K infection of Staphylococcus aureus strain K1, was reported (12). However, virolysin was only active against dead and not live cells (12). A second lysin, PAL (phage-associated lysin), was also described which lysed dead and live S. aureus cells (14).…”

“…Phage lysins have attracted considerable interest as novel antimicrobials against gram-positive bacteria and have been used to control a wide range of pathogens such as group A streptococci (9), Streptococcus pneumoniae (4), Bacillus anthracis (13), and Enterococcus faecalis (15). In the 1950s, a lytic enzyme, "virolysin," obtained from phage lysates after phage K infection of Staphylococcus aureus strain K1, was reported (12). However, virolysin was only active against dead and not live cells (12).…”

Group N Streptococcal Phage Lysin

“…Addition to purified enzyme preparations of the homologous phage at a multiplicity of 30-50 resulted in complete inhibition of activity. This behaviour contrasts with that of staphylococcal and megaterium lysins, in that these lyse viable cell suspensions only in the presence of their homologous phages (Ralston et al 1955; Murphy, 1957).…”