The pathogenicity of many bacteria, including and , depends on pore-forming toxins (PFTs), which cause the lysis of host cells by forming pores in the membranes of eukaryotic cells. Bioinformatic analysis revealed a region homologous to the Lys171-Gly250 sequence in hemolysin II (HlyII) from in over 600 PFTs, which we designated as a "homologous peptide". Three β-barrel PFTs were used for a detailed comparative analysis.
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