
The goal of this work was to evaluate the growth of different strains of P. gingivalis on human serum albumin (HSA), a major constituent of GCF. Differential gene expression analysis led us to a gene cluster containing enzymes involved in arginine metabolism and a gene predicted to be lytic murein transglycosylase, which are known to play a role in autolysis. Deletion of this gene (PG0139) resulted in a mutant that did not lyse, and complementation restored the HSA lysis phenotype, indicating that this enzyme plays a central role in the autolysis of P. gingivalis. P. gingivalis undergoes autolysis when provided with HSA as a substrate for growth.
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