Classification and structural insight into vibriolysin-like proteases of Vibrio pathogenicity.

Vibriolysin-like proteases (VLPs) are important virulence agents in the arsenal of Vibrio causing instant cytotoxic effects during infection. Most of Vibrio secreted VLPs show serious pathogenicity, while some species of Vibrio with VLPs are non-pathogenic, like Vibrio tasmaniensis and Vibrio pacinii. To investigate the relation between VLPs and Vibrio pathogenicity, one phylogenetic tree of VLPs was constructed and compared consensus sequences at the N-terminus of VLPs.