PepD

PepD is a dipeptidase of E. coli with a broad specificity.

It catalyses the breakdown of L-Ala-L-Glu to L-Ala and L-Glu, thus allowing the release of all the amino acids from the tripeptide.

However, this is only a minor pathway, since most of the tripeptide is utilised directly by Mpl to form the peptidoglycan biosynthesis intermediate UDP_MurNAc-tripeptide.