Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1987 Feb;169(2):447–453. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.2.447-453.1987

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

J F Garcia-Bustos, A Tomasz
PMCID: PMC211797  PMID: 2879828

Abstract

Pneumococcal cell walls in which the normal phosphorylcholine component of the wall teichoic acids is replaced with phosphorylethanolamine cannot absorb the homologous autolytic enzyme and are completely resistant to autolytic degradation (S. Giudicelli and A. Tomasz, J. Bacteriol. 158:1188-1190, 1984). We 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.

Full text

PDF
447

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Boylan R. J., Mendelson N. H., Brooks D., Young F. E. Regulation of the bacterial cell wall: analysis of a mutant of Bacillus subtilis defective in biosynthesis of teichoic acid. J Bacteriol. 1972 Apr;110(1):281–290. doi: 10.1128/jb.110.1.281-290.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Briese T., Hakenbeck R. Interaction of the pneumococcal amidase with lipoteichoic acid and choline. Eur J Biochem. 1985 Jan 15;146(2):417–427. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1985.tb08668.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brundish D. E., Baddiley J. Pneumococcal C-substance, a ribitol teichoic acid containing choline phosphate. Biochem J. 1968 Dec;110(3):573–582. doi: 10.1042/bj1100573. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chesebro B., Metzger H. Affinity labeling of a phosphorylcholine binding mouse myeloma protein. Biochemistry. 1972 Feb 29;11(5):766–771. doi: 10.1021/bi00755a014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fischer H., Tomasz A. Peptidoglycan cross-linking and teichoic acid attachment in Streptococcus pneumoniae. J Bacteriol. 1985 Jul;163(1):46–54. doi: 10.1128/jb.163.1.46-54.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fischer W., Rösel P., Koch H. U. Effect of alanine ester substitution and other structural features of lipoteichoic acids on their inhibitory activity against autolysins of Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacteriol. 1981 May;146(2):467–475. doi: 10.1128/jb.146.2.467-475.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. García E., García J. L., Ronda C., García P., López R. Cloning and expression of the pneumococcal autolysin gene in Escherichia coli. Mol Gen Genet. 1985;201(2):225–230. doi: 10.1007/BF00425663. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Giudicelli S., Tomasz A. Attachment of pneumococcal autolysin to wall teichoic acids, an essential step in enzymatic wall degradation. J Bacteriol. 1984 Jun;158(3):1188–1190. doi: 10.1128/jb.158.3.1188-1190.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Herbold D. R., Glaser L. Interaction of N-acetylmuramic acid L-alanine amidase with cell wall polymers. J Biol Chem. 1975 Sep 25;250(18):7231–7238. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Higgins C. F., Hardie M. M. Periplasmic protein associated with the oligopeptide permeases of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1983 Sep;155(3):1434–1438. doi: 10.1128/jb.155.3.1434-1438.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Höltje J. V., Tomasz A. Lipoteichoic acid: a specific inhibitor of autolysin activity in Pneumococcus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 May;72(5):1690–1694. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.5.1690. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Höltje J. V., Tomasz A. Purification of the pneumococcal N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase to biochemical homogeneity. J Biol Chem. 1976 Jul 25;251(14):4199–4207. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Höltje J. V., Tomasz A. Specific recognition of choline residues in the cell wall teichoic acid by the N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase of Pneumococcus. J Biol Chem. 1975 Aug 10;250(15):6072–6076. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Jennings H. J., Lugowski C., Young N. M. Structure of the complex polysaccharide C-substance from Streptococcus pneumoniae type 1. Biochemistry. 1980 Sep 30;19(20):4712–4719. doi: 10.1021/bi00561a026. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kojima N., Araki Y., Ito E. Structure of the linkage units between ribitol teichoic acids and peptidoglycan. J Bacteriol. 1985 Jan;161(1):299–306. doi: 10.1128/jb.161.1.299-306.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mosser J. L., Tomasz A. Choline-containing teichoic acid as a structural component of pneumococcal cell wall and its role in sensitivity to lysis by an autolytic enzyme. J Biol Chem. 1970 Jan 25;245(2):287–298. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Nossal N. G., Heppel L. A. The release of enzymes by osmotic shock from Escherichia coli in exponential phase. J Biol Chem. 1966 Jul 10;241(13):3055–3062. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Tomasz A., Albino A., Zanati E. Multiple antibiotic resistance in a bacterium with suppressed autolytic system. Nature. 1970 Jul 11;227(5254):138–140. doi: 10.1038/227138a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tomasz A., Westphal M. Abnormal autolytic enzyme in a pneumococus with altered teichoic acid composition. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971 Nov;68(11):2627–2630. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.11.2627. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Tomasz A., Westphal M., Briles E. B., Fletcher P. On the physiological functions of teichoic acids. J Supramol Struct. 1975;3(1):1–16. doi: 10.1002/jss.400030102. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES