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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Apr 3.
Published in final edited form as: J Mol Biol. 2009 Feb 9;387(3):607–618. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2009.02.001

Figure 8.

Figure 8

Proposed hydrolysis reaction of the Bacillus subtilis peptidoglycan cross-link p21 catalyzed by the bacteriophage φ29 gene product 13. Step 1, substrate binding to gp13 active-site, Asp195 mediated polarization of the scissile bond carbonyl carbon and deprotonation of water. Step 2, hydroxyl nucleophile attack of the scissile bond carbon leading to the bidentate complex and tetrahedral intermediate. Step 3, proton removal from His247 by the lone pair on the nitrogen of the scissile bond. Step 4 hydrolysis. Step 5 product release.