ABSTRACTVirion-associated peptidoglycan hydrolases have potential as antimicrobial agents due to their ability to lyse Gram-positive bacteria on contact. In this work, our aim was to improve the lytic activity of HydH5, a virion-associated peptidoglycan hydrolase from theStaphylococcus aureusbacteriophage vB_SauS-phiIPLA88. Full-length HydH5 and two truncated derivatives containing only the CHAP (cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolase/peptidase) domain exhibited high lytic activity against liveS. aureuscells. In addition, three different fusion proteins were created between lysostaphin and HydH5, each of which showed higher staphylolytic activity than the parental enzyme or its deletion construct. Both parental and fusion proteins lysedS. aureuscells in zymograms and plate lysis and turbidity reduction assays. In plate lysis assays, HydH5 and its derivative fusions lysed bovine and humanS. aureusstrains, the methicillin-resistantS. aureus(MRSA) strain N315, and humanStaphylococcus epidermidisstrains. Several nonstaphylococcal bacteria were not affected. HydH5 and its derivative fusion proteins displayed antimicrobial synergy with the endolysin LysH5in vitro, suggesting that the two enzymes have distinct cut sites and, thus, may be more efficient in combination for the elimination of staphylococcal infections.