Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the analysis of the chemical composition and primary structure of the murein. Murein (peptidoglycan, mucopeptide) is the main cell wall polymer of eubacteria and is common to both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. There are only a few prokaryotic organisms, such as mycoplasmas and archaebacteria, which lack murein. The glycan moiety is rather uniform and shows only a few variations such as O-acetylation or O-phosphorylation or the exceptional absence of peptide substituents. The peptide moiety of the murein shows, in contrast to the glycan part, a considerable variation. Extensive investigation of the chemical structure of murein has demonstrated the existence of almost 100 different variations of the peptide moiety. Depending on the mode of cross-linking two main groups of murein, named A and B, have been distinguished. The different structure of cell walls of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria necessitates discrete methods for preparing cell walls. The cell walls of Gram-positive bacteria reveal in profile one thick and more or less homogeneous layer, whereas Gram-negative bacteria have thinner, but distinctly layered cell walls with an outer membrane resembling the cytoplasmic membrane in profile.

5 Analysis of the Chemical Composition and Primary Structure of Murein

Pep 5 and nisin are cationic peptide antibiotics which in addition to their membrane-disruptive action induce autolysis in staphylococci. To investigate the mechanism of lysis induction, the influence of the peptides on the activity of the N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase of Staphylococcus simulans 22 was studied. In experiments with isolated cell walls at low ionic strength, the amidase activity was stimulated by the addition of Pep 5 and nisin, as well as by polylysine, streptomycin, and mono- and divalent cations. The concentrations necessary for activation depended on the nature of the cation and ranged from 5 microM for poly-L-lysine (n = 17) to 150 mM for Na+ at a cell wall concentration of 100 micrograms of cell walls per ml. No effect was observed if the cell walls were devoid of polyanionic constituents. Kinetic data suggested that the amidase bound to the teichoic and teichuronic acids of the cell wall and was thereby inhibited. Cationic molecules reversed this inhibition, most likely by displacing the enzyme from the polyanions. If the concentrations of the larger peptides were high in relation to cell wall concentration, the activation turned into inhibition, presumably by interfering with the access of the enzyme to its substrate. These experiments demonstrate that the activity of the amidase is modulated by basic peptides in vitro and help to explain how Pep 5 and nisin may cause lysis of treated cells.

Autolytic system of Staphylococcus simulans 22: influence of cationic peptides on activity of N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase.

The complex cell-wall polysaccharide, C-substance, was isolated from Streptococcus pneumoniae type 1 and purified by DEAE-cellulose (HCO3(-) form) and Sephadex column chromatography. The complete structure of this antigen was obtained by the application of methylation and 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopic techniques to a series of oligosaccharide fragments obtained by the selective degradation of the N-acetylated antigen. Native C-substance is composed of the following repeating unit: beta-D-Glup-1 leads to 3-alpha-AAT-Galp-1 leads to 4-alpha-D-GalNAcp-1 leads to 3-beta-D-GalNH2p-1 leads to 1'-ribitol-5-phosphate where AATGal is 2-acetamido-4-amino-2,4,6-trideoxygalactose. Phosphocholine substituents are situated at O(6) of the unacetylated galactosamine residues, and the repeating units are linked through a diphosphate ester from ribitol to O(6) of the beta-D-glucopyranose residue. This structure has also been shown to be common to C-substances prepared from a number of other pneumococcal types based on the criterion of their identical 13C NMR spectra.

Structure of the complex polysaccharide C-substance from Streptococcus pneumoniae type 1.

Pneumococcal lipoteichoic acid was extracted and purified by a novel, quick and effective procedure. Structural analysis included methylation, periodate oxidation, Smith degradation, oxidation with CrO3, and fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrometry. Hydrolysis with 48% (by mass) HF and subsequent phase partition yielded the lipid anchor (I), the dephosphorylated repeating unit of the chain (II) and a cleavage product of the latter (III). The proposed structures are: (I) Glc(beta 1----3)AATGal(beta 1----3)Glc(alpha 1----3)acyl2Gro, (II) Glc(beta 1----3)AATGal(alpha 1----4)GalNAc(alpha 1----3)GalNAc(beta 1----1)ribitol and (III) Glc(beta 1----3)AATGal(alpha 1----4)GalNAc(alpha 1----3)GalNAc, where AATGal is 2-acetamido-4-amino-2,4,6-trideoxygalactose, and all sugars are in the pyranose form and belong to the D-series. Alkaline phosphodiester cleavage of lipoteichoic acid, followed by treatment with phosphomonoesterase, resulted in the formation of II and IV, with IV as the prevailing species: [sequence: see text] The linkage between the repeating units was established as phosphodiester bond between ribitol 5-phosphate and position 6 of the glucosyl residue of adjacent units. The chain was shown to be linked to the lipid anchor by a phosphodiester between its ribitol 5-phosphate terminus and position 6 of the non-reducing glucosyl terminus of I. The lipoteichoic acid is polydisperse: the chain length may vary between 2 and 8 repeating units and variations were also observed for the fatty acid composition of the diacylglycerol moiety. Preliminary results suggest that repeating units II and IV are enriched in separate molecular species. All species were associated with Forssman antigenicity, albeit to a various extent when related to the non-phosphocholine phosphorus. Owing to its unique structure, the described macroamphiphile may be classified as atypical lipoteichoic acid.

https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1432-1033.1992.tb17143.x

David Lipkin

Papers

Action of hydrogen fluoride on nucleotides and other esters of phosphorus(V) acids

5-O-Methyl-D-ribose and 5-O-Methyl-D-ribitol

Notes- An Unexpected Reaction of 3,5-Di-O-benzoyl-2-deoxy-D-ribose