The peptidoglycan of Mycobacterium spp. reportedly has some unique features, including the occurrence of N-glycolylmuramic rather than N-acetylmuramic acid. However, very little is known of the actual biosynthesis of mycobacterial peptidoglycan, including the extent and origin of N glycolylation. In the present work, we have isolated and analyzed muramic acid residues located in peptidoglycan a...

Neisseria gonorrhoeae releases soluble fragments of peptidoglycan during growth. These molecules are implicated in the pathogenesis of various forms of gonococcal infection. A major peptidoglycan fragment released by gonococci is identical to the tracheal cytotoxin of Bordetella pertussis and has been shown to kill ciliated fallopian tube cells in organ culture. Previous studies indicated that ...

UNLABELLED Filamentous, heterocyst-forming cyanobacteria exchange nutrients and regulators between cells for diazotrophic growth. Two alternative modes of exchange have been discussed involving transport either through the periplasm or through septal junctions linking adjacent cells. Septal junctions and channels in the septal peptidoglycan are likely filled with septal junction complexes. Whil...

Major peptidoglycan transglycosylase activities, which synthesize uncross-linked peptidoglycan from lipid-linked precursors, were solubilized from the membranes of Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus and were partially purified. The transglycosylase activities were separated from penicillin-binding proteins by solubilization and by purification steps. Therefore, we concluded that these...

Bacteria have to avoid recognition by the host immune system in order to establish a successful infection. Peptidoglycan, the principal constituent of virtually all bacterial surfaces, is a specific molecular signature recognized by dedicated host receptors, present in animals and plants, which trigger an immune response. Here we report that autolysins from Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, en...

The rigid layer and peptidoglycan fractions from two strains (ATCC 17100 and Rm 5) of the budding phototrophic Rhodomicrobium vannielii were isolated. Rigid layers of both strains con­ tain protein in addition to peptidoglycan. They were free of polysaccharides and fatty acids. The respective peptidoglycan fractions contain glucosamine, muramic acid, l and D-alanine, D-glutamic and m eso-diamin...

Cellular integrity and morphology of most bacteria is maintained by cell wall peptidoglycan, the target of antibiotics essential in modern healthcare. It consists of glycan strands, cross-linked by peptides, whose arrangement determines cell shape, prevents lysis due to turgor pressure and yet remains dynamic to allow insertion of new material, and hence growth. The cellular architecture and in...

The bacterial GTPase FtsZ forms a cytokinetic ring at midcell, recruits the division machinery and orchestrates membrane and peptidoglycan cell wall invagination. However, the mechanism for FtsZ regulation of peptidoglycan metabolism is unknown. The FtsZ GTPase domain is separated from its membrane-anchoring C-terminal conserved (CTC) peptide by a disordered C-terminal linker (CTL). Here we inv...

Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, replicates as chains of vegetative cells by regulating the separation of septal peptidoglycan. Surface (S)-layer proteins and associated proteins (BSLs) function as chain length determinants and bind to the secondary cell wall polysaccharide (SCWP). In this study, we identified the B. anthracis lcpD mutant, which displays increased chain lengt...

The antimicrobial activity of the chemokine CXCL10 against vegetative cells of Bacillus anthracis occurs via both bacterial FtsE/X-dependent and-independent pathways. Previous studies established that the FtsE/X-dependent pathway was mediated through interaction of the N-terminal region(s) of CXCL10 with a functional FtsE/X complex, while the FtsE/X-independent pathway was mediated through the ...