Teichoic acid-containing muropeptides from Streptococcus pneumoniae as substrate for the pneumococcal autolysin

Pneumococcal cells walls in which the normal phosphorylcholine component of the wall teichoic acids is replaced with phosphorylethanolamine cannot adsorb the homologous autolytic enzyme and are completely resistant to autolytic degradation. The authors have now isolated and characterized soluble tei...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of bacteriology Vol. 169; no. 2; pp. 447 - 453
Main Authors Garcia-Bustos, J F, Tomasz, A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.01.1987
Subjects
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Pneumococcal cells walls in which the normal phosphorylcholine component of the wall teichoic acids is replaced with phosphorylethanolamine cannot adsorb the homologous autolytic enzyme and are completely resistant to autolytic degradation. The authors have now isolated and characterized soluble teichoic acid-containing muropeptides from such cell walls and tested them as substrates for the pneumococcal autolytic enzyme. Both choline- and ethanolamine-containing muropeptides were hydrolyzed to the same extent by the enzyme. Furthermore, free choline concentrations that totally inhibited the digestion of pneumococcal cell walls in vivo and in vitro were without effect when the soluble substrates were used.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
content type line 23
ObjectType-Feature-1
ISSN:0021-9193