COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS INVOLVING AN ESSENTIAL STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS GENE AND ITS ENCODED PROTEIN

摘要

This invention relates to newly identified polynucleotides and polypeptides, their production and uses, as well as their variants, agonists and antagonists, and their uses. In particular, the invention relates to polynucleotides and polypeptides of a Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) DnaI related protein, as well as its variants. Also, the invention relates to a specific interaction between the S. aureus DnaI related protein or specific regions thereof, and a growth-inhibitory protein encoded by the S. aureus bacteriophage 77 genome. The phage protein interacts with amino acids 150 - 313 of S. aureus DnaI polypeptide, and the invention relates to the use of this interaction target site as the basis of drug screening assays. In addition, the invention relates to polynucleotides and polypeptides of a protein complex containing S. aureus DnaI and DnaC related proteins, as well as their variants.