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. 1985 Jul;163(1):305–310. doi: 10.1128/jb.163.1.305-310.1985

Recycling of murein by Escherichia coli.

E W Goodell
PMCID: PMC219113  PMID: 3891732

Abstract

The tripeptide (L-Ala-D-Glu-meso-diaminopimelic acid [A2pm]), tetrapeptide (L-Ala-D-Glu-A2pm-D-Ala), and dipeptide (A2pm-D-Ala) which are shed by Escherichia coli from the murein sacculus were found to be reused by the cells to synthesize murein. The tripeptide was used directly, without degradation, to form UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-L-Ala-D-Glu-A2pm. The tetrapeptide lost its carboxy-terminal D-Ala, apparently in the periplasm, before being used. The dipeptide was degraded to D-Ala and A2pm before uptake.

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Selected References

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

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