The Streptococcus sp. studied here is closely related to Streptococcus pneumoniae with 98.6% 16S rRNA similarity and 65% DNA/DNA homology. We isolated the lipoteichoic acid and the membrane glycolipids whose structures were established using conventional procedures and NMR spectroscopy. The lipoteichoic acid contains a linear 1,3-linked poly(glycerophosphate) chain which is partly substituted with d-alanine ester and is phosphodiester-linked to O6 of b-d-Galf(133)acyl 2 Gro. This lipoteichoic acid is the first example in which a monohexosylglycerol serves as the glycolipid anchor; and with an average chain length of 10 glycerophosphate residues it is the shortest known to date. MS analysis, applied for the first time to a native acylated lipoteichoic acid, revealed a continuous increase in chain length from seven to 17 glycerophosphate residues with a maximum at 10, and allowed identification of the fatty acid combinations. Membrane glycolipids consistedIt is noteworthy that in lipoteichoic acid biosynthesis, Galfacyl 2 Gro, a less abundant membrane glycolipid, is selected as the lipid anchor. Despite the genetic relatedness to Streptococcus pneumoniae, the lipoteichoic acid structure is quite different to the complex structure of pneumococcal lipoteichoic acid [T. Behr et al. (1992) Eur. J. Biochem. 207, 1063±1075], thus providing an example that minor differences in DNA sequence exert major changes in macromolecular structure. In this study we isolated a poly(glycerophosphate)-LTA from a Streptococcus sp. that is closely related to Streptococcus pneumoniae (see Discussion). This LTA is noteworthy in two aspects: it is, on average, only 10 glycerophosphates in length and the glycolipid anchor is 3-O-(b-d-galactofuranosyl)-1,2-di-O-acyl-sn-glycerol. This monohexosyldiacylglycerol, a rare glycolipid in Gram-positive bacteria [11,12] also occurs among the membrane glycolipids of our strain. Analysis revealed that it is not the biosynthetic precursor of the other glycolipids because these are derived from 3-O-(a-d-glucopyranosyl)-1,2-di-O-acyl-sn-glycerol. E X P E R I M E N T A L P R O C E D U R E SBacterial strain and growth Streptococcus sp. DSM 8747, deposited at the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen according to the Budapest treaty, is characterized taxonomically elsewhere. Bacteria were Eur.
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