Structure of the ribitol teichoic acid from the walls of Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

1. When [1:2 -14C2]ethanolamine, serine, L-[3H]serine or D-[3H]serine was administered orally to earthworms, serine ethanolamine phosphodiester and lombricine were found to be radioactively labelled.2. For each of the precursors the specific radioactivity of serine ethanolamine phosphodiester was greater than that of lombricine in both muscle and gut tissue.3. The specific radioactivity of serine ethanolamine phosphodiester and lombricine was greater in gut than in muscle. With [1:2-4C2]ethanolamine most of the radioactivity of muscle lombricine was in the guanidinoethanol portion of the molecule, whereas with DL-[3-L4C]serine most of the radioactivity was in the serine portion.5. When L-[amidino-14C]arginine was given, there was negligible radioactivity in serine ethanolamine phosphodiester and considerable radioactivity in lombricine, almost all of which was in the guanidinoethanol portion of the molecule.6. These findings suggest that serine ethanolamine phosphodiester is the precursor of lombricine in the earthworm and that the amidino group is derived from arginine by the transamidinasecatalysed transfer of the amidino group to serine ethanolamine phosphodiester.We are indebted to Dr D. I. Magrath and Mrs I. M. Beatty for a sample of synthetic SEP, to Dr R. Norris for advice about the earthworms and to Mr P. Allen for technical assistance. 126, 446. amino acid oxidase were purchased from * Salters' Student. RIBITOL TEICHOIC ACID FROM BACILLUS SUBTILIS L. Light and Co. Ltd., Colnbrook, Bucks. B. &subtilis was grown from a culture provided by Dr M. R. J. Salton.

The Ultrastructure of the Cell Wall of Bacillus megaterium

“…Similar results with other organisms were reported by Armstrong, Baddiley & Buchanan (1960) and Hay et al (1965). Thus in lactobacilli the teichoic acid is made up of 7-6 units, in staphylococci of 8.1 and in B. subtilis of 8.9 units.…”

Determination of strain-specific wall teichoic acid structures in Lactobacillus plantarum reveals diverse α-d-glucosyl substitutions and high structural uniformity of the repeating units

“…The same observation on alkaline-resistant WTA has been reported in 1,3-linked poly(Gro-P) LTA of streptococci (Wicken & Baddiley, 1963). Under alkaline conditions, hydrolysis of the poly(Rbo-P) chain occurs through formation of cyclic phosphates in each ribitol residue, as described by Armstrong et al (1960). However, in the case of WTA from NRIC 1067 T , the glucose residues occupied hydroxyl groups at C-2 and C-4 of the ribitol residue, which are usually required to form the cyclic phosphate together with C-1 and C-5, respectively.…”

“…Previous studies on the structures of TAs have so far indicated that WTA structures are more diverse than those of LTA, and that differences in composition and structure are observed not only at the species level but also at the strain level. Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus strains are known to contain either Gro-P or Rbo-P repeating units in their WTA (Armstrong et al, 1960;de Boer et al, 1976;Baddiley et al, 1962;Endl et al, 1983), and in Listeria (Li.) monocytogenes, eight structures of WTA repeating units were discovered among strains with different serotypes, showing variation in the components of glycosyl residues and in the locations of phosphodiester bonds between repeating units (Uchikawa et al, 1986).…”

ABC Transporters Involved in Export of Cell Surface Glycoconjugates

“…While these molecules are clearly not oligo-or polysaccharides per se, their mode of synthesis is quite similar to those for many other bacterial glycoconjugates. It is (6,7,170). It remains to be determined whether these transporters, like some ABC transporters with NBDs found in groups C, D, and F, do not discriminate between the structures of the teichoic acid backbones.…”