Nucleotide sequence of the streptolysin O (SLO) gene: structural homologies between SLO and other membrane-damaging, thiol-activated toxins.

The complete nucleotide sequence of a cloned streptolysin O (SLO) gene and the amino acid sequence of SLO, predicted from the DNA sequence, are reported. SLO contains a single cysteine residue located close to the C terminus of the molecule and shares extensive structural homologies with other thiol-activated toxins, which allow us to predict functionally important features.