The present disclosure relates to chimeric bacteriophage lysins useful for the identification and/or reduction of staphylococcal populations. For example, a chimeric bacteriophage lysin was engineered and shown to effectively kill all strains of staphylococci tested including antibiotic resistant methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA).
