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. 1975 Apr;122(1):152–158. doi: 10.1128/jb.122.1.152-158.1975

Distribution of teichoic acid in the cell wall of Bacillus subtilis.

R J Doyle, M L McDannel, J R Helman, U N Streips
PMCID: PMC235652  PMID: 804466

Abstract

Hydrolysis of the cell wall of Bacillus subtilis 168 by autolysins or lysozyme resulted in the exposure of glucosylated teichoic acid molecules as evidenced by increased precipitation of [14C] concanavalin A. The number of concanavalin A-reactive sites increased significantly after only limited enzymatic digestion of the walls. Quantitative analyses of [14C] concanavalin A-treated wall or wall hydrolysate complexes indicate that approximately one-half of the teichoic acid molecules are surface-exposed, whereas the remainder are probably embedded within the peptidoglycan matrix. Treatment of the cell walls with sodium dodecyl sulfate or Triton X-100 did not result in new concanavalin A-reactive sites. Partial autolysis diminished the ability of the cell walls to adsorb bacteriophage phi25. Fluorescein-labeled concanavalin A bound intensely over the entire surface of growing B. subtilis 168 cells, suggesting that teichoic acid molecules are located on the total solvent-exposed surface area of the bacteria.

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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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