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J Bacteriol. 1968 January; 95(1): 201-210
Copyright © 1968 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Isolation and Chemical Structure of the Peptidoglycan of Spirillum serpens Cell Walls

^a Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706

ABSTRACT

The peptidoglycan layer of Spirillum serpens cell walls was isolated from intact cells after treatment with sodium dodecylsulfate and digestion with Pronase. The isolated peptidoglycan contained glucosamine, muramic acid, alanine, glutamic acid, and meso-diaminopimelic acid in the approximate molar ratio of 1:1:2:1:1. Aspartic acid and glycine were the only other amino acids found in significant quantities. N-terminal amino acid analyses of the tetrapeptide amino acids in the peptidoglycan revealed that 54% of the diaminopimelic acid molecules are involved in cross-linkage between tetrapeptides. This amount of cross-linkage is greater than that found in the peptidoglycan of previously studied cell walls of gram-negative bacteria. The polysaccharide backbone was isolated, after myxobacter AL-1 enzyme digestion of the peptidoglycan, by fractionation with ECTEOLA-cellulose and Sephadex G-100. An average length of 99 hexosamines for the polysaccharide chains was found (ratio of total hexosamines to reducing end groups).

¹ This work was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.S. degree at the University of Wisconsin while the senior author was a predoctoral fellow of the U.S. Public Health Service.