INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ Isolation of Cell Walls........................................................................ WALLS OF GRAM-POSITIVE ORGANISMS. .......................................................... Mucopeptide ................................................................................. Components Other Than Amino Acids and N-Acetylamino Sugars................................ TEICHOIC ACIDS ..................................................... Composition and Structure................................................................... POLYSACCHARIDES ............. PROTEINS ..................................................................................... WALLS OF GRAM-NEGATIVE ORGANISMS. .. ..................................................... Mucopeptide Component. . ................................................................... Polysaccharides ............................................................................. CELL WALLS OF RICKETTSIAE AND ORGANISMS OF THE PSITTACOSIS-LYMPHOGRANULOMA GROUP. ENZYMATIC ATTACK ON WALL STRUCTURES. ... .................................................. Lysozyme .................................................................................... Other Enzymes Resembling Lysozyme......................................................... Streptomyces FjB Enzyme................................................................... ANTIBIOTICS WHICH SPECIFICALLY INHIBIT CELL-WALL SYNTHESIS ............................. Penicillins ................................................................................... Oxamycin (D-Cycloserine). .. ................................................................ Bacitracin A................................................................................. Vancomycin .............................................................................. Novobiocin .................................................................................. EVIDENCE ON THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF BACTERIAL CELL WALLS................................... Biosynthesis of Muramic Acid and Diaminopimelic Acid........................................ Park Nucleotides ........................................................................... Mucopeptide ................................................................................. Scheme for Biosynthesis of Mucopeptide ..................................................... Uridine Nucleotides in Gram-Negative Bacteria................................................. Effect of Chloramphenicol. .. ................................................................. Cell-Free Systems........................................................................... Biosynthesis of the Whole Cell Wall ........................................................... LITERATURE CITED...........................................................................

Chemical structure and biosynthesis of bacterial cell walls

The anatomy of the bacterial surface.

Publisher Summary Current knowledge of the chemistry of cell-wall antigens of gram-positive bacteria, or the biologically and serologically important cell-wall antigens of gram-positive bacteria, is discussed in this chapter. In contrast to the soluble capsular antigens, especially those of pneumococci, the true cell-wall antigens have only relatively recently been available in under-graded form suitable for chemical and immunochemical analysis; and it is mainly the carbohydrate and teichoic acid rather than the protein components which have been studied. The cell walls provide the best source of immunizing antigens. Bacteria and their products can affect immune responses other than by acting as a source of antigenic materials . Despite certain basic similarities, there are sufficient differences between the cell walls of gram-positive and gram-negative organisms to warrant separate consideration. The cell wall of gram-positive organisms is clearly visible as a single layer distinct from the underlying cell membrane. Both protein and carbohydrate antigens have been found in the cell walls of gram-positive bacteria. Some of the antigens serve as serological determinants of group or type specificity; others such as streptococcal m protein also play important roles in microbial pathogenesis and virulence.. Intracellular, capsular, and diffusible antigens related to the cell wall of gram-positive bacteria, for example, the intracellular glycerol teichoic acids and capsular and diffusible antigens are related to the gram-positive bacteria.

Cell wall antigens of gram-positive bacteria.

Substrate-mediated Stabilization of a Tetrameric Drug Target Reveals Achilles Heel in Anthrax

α, ɛ-Diaminopimelic Acid: Its Distribution, Synthesis and Metabolism

Bacillus anthracis contains a polysaccharide which appears to be part of the cell wall1. Ivanovics2 first isolated the polysaccharide which contained galactose 34 per cent, glucosamine 34 per cent, nitrogen 4.2 per cent and α-carboxyl amino-nitrogen 0.8 per cent. Strange and Belton3 obtained from culture filtrates of B. anthracis a polysaccharide which contained galactose 39–43 per cent, glucosamine 34 per cent, nitrogen 3.9 per cent and α-carboxyl amino-nitrogen 1.26 per cent. The differences between the total nitrogen and glucosamine nitrogen values together with the figures for α-carboxyl amino-nitrogen in these preparations indicated the presence of 5–10 per cent of amino-acid residues. Smith and Zwartouw4 obtained a polysaccharide from B. anthracisgrown in vivo. It contained galactose 38–43 per cent, glucosamine 38–44 per cent, nitrogen 4.0 per cent and α-carboxyl amino-nitrogen 0.3 per cent. Since this preparation satisfied a number of rigorous tests for homogeneity it was concluded that a small peptide moiety (2–3 per cent) was firmly attached to the polysaccharide. We are concerned here with the constitution of this peptide moiety.

Alpha epsilon-Diaminopimelic acid in the peptide moiety of the cell wall polysaccharide of Bacillus anthracis.

WHEN certain bacteria are suspended in sucrose solution of suitable concentration and incubated with lysozyme, the rigid cell-walls are dissolved away, leaving relatively stable spherical protoplasts1 Lytic enzymes which dissolve the isolated cell-walls of vegetative Bacillus cereus have been found in extracts of mechanically disintegrated resting spores2 and partial autolysates of sporulating cells3 of this organism When heat-treated, intact vegetative cells were treated with preparations of these enzymes, the walls were dissolved, leaving the coagulated cell-contents apparently unchanged It has now been found that when viable organisms are suspended in sucrose solution and treated with these enzymes, relatively stable protoplasts are obtained in good yield

R. E. Strange

Papers

Alpha epsilon-Diaminopimelic acid in the peptide moiety of the cell wall polysaccharide of Bacillus anthracis.

Bacterial protoplasts from Bacillus species by the action of autolytic enzymes.