Prevalence of Production of Antagonism Peptide Factors among Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci

Screening of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) isolated from hospital environmental objects has been conducted to reveal their ability to produce antibacterial compounds. The detection frequency of CNS strains with pronounced antagonistic activity was about 1.4%. The antibacterial activity of individual CNS strains was determined by the release of low-molecular peptide compounds into the environment. The molecular weights of the three isolated peptides were 2985, 2998, and 3004 Da. The Staphylococcus hominis-derived peptide containing an unusual amino acid, methyllanthionine, can be attributed to the class I bacteriocins, the lantibiotics. The antibacterial activity of the isolated peptides has been demonstrated against gram-positive bacteria of various genera phylogenetically unrelated to the peptide producers.