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. 1982 May;150(2):844–850. doi: 10.1128/jb.150.2.844-850.1982

Arrangement of peptidoglycan in the cell wall of Staphylococcus spp.

K Amako, A Umeda, K Murata
PMCID: PMC216437  PMID: 7068534

Abstract

The arrangement of peptidoglycan in the cell wall of Staphylococcus was observed with the newly developed freeze-fracture technique, using n-octanol instead of water as the freezing medium. The replica of the trichloroacetic acid-extracted cell wall (TCA-wall) showed two areas. One of them has a concentric circular structure, a characteristic surface structure of the staphylococcal cell wall, and the other showed an irregular and rough surface. The chemical analysis of the wall revealed that the TCA-wall consisted of mostly peptidoglycan. By digesting the TCA-wall with lysozyme, the circular structures were greatly disturbed, and they disappeared after 60 min of treatment. From these observations it can be expected that the peptidoglycan is arranged in a concentric circular manner in the newly generated cell wall of Staphylococcus.

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Selected References

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