Amino acid sequence of thermostable direct hemolysin produced by Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

The complete amino acid sequence of the subunit of thermostable direct hemolysin, a dimeric protein composed of identical subunits isolated from Vibrio parahaemolyticus, was determined by sequencing BrCN-peptides, their tryptic peptides, and overlaps obtained by Achromobacter protease I digestion. The subunit consists of 165 amino acid residues with the sole disulfide bond between Cys 151 and Cys 161. It is deduced that the biologically active hemolysin is formed by noncovalent association of subunits which are not linked together by disulfide bonds. The primary structure of hemolysin elucidated in the present study is essentially the same as that deduced from the nucleotide sequence of a gene encoding the protein but differs in 9 amino acid residues, suggesting the possibility of the presence of multiple genes for the thermostable direct hemolysin in Vibrio parahaemolyticus.