Abstract
The cell wall of the H37Ra strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated and freed of extraneous noncovalently linked material by a series of extraction and enzymatic procedures. Chemical analysis of the cell wall has revealed the following composition: 22.8% amino acids, principally alanine, glutamate, and diaminopimelate in a molar ratio of 1:1.8:0.8; 24.7% reducing sugars, all in the form of arabinose and galactose in a molar ratio of 2.6:1; and 3.95% amino sugars, all in the form of glucosamine, muramic acid, and galactosamine in a molar ratio of 1:6.6:0.8. About 32.1% of the dry weight of the cell wall is lipid, of this about 55% is in the form of two series of mycolic acids. Each series of mycolic acids contains two homologues differing by 28 mass units. One pair of homologues contains in each a carbonyl function and an unsaturated double bond; the other pair contains two cyclopropane groups in each homologue. The remaining lipids are composed principally of normal saturated fatty acids, including tuberculostearic acid.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- AZUMA I., YAMAMURA Y. Studies on the firmly bound lipids of human tubercle bacillus. I. Isolation of arabinose mycolate. J Biochem. 1962 Sep;52:200–206. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jbchem.a127597. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- AZUMA I., YAMAMURA Y. Studies on the firmly bound lipids of human tubercle bacillus. J Biochem. 1963 Apr;53:275–281. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Azuma I., Yamamura Y., Fukushi K. Fractionation of mycobacterial cell wall. Isolation of arabinose mycolate and arabinogalactan from cell wall fraction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain Aoyama B. J Bacteriol. 1968 Nov;96(5):1885–1887. doi: 10.1128/jb.96.5.1885-1887.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- CRUMPTON M. J. Identification of amino sugars. Biochem J. 1959 Jul;72:479–486. doi: 10.1042/bj0720479. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DEWIJS H., JOLLES P. CELL WALLS OF THREE STRAINS OF MYCOBACTERIA (MYCOBACTERIUM PHLEI, MYCOBACTERIUM FORTUITUM AND MYCOBACTERIUM KANSASII). PREPARATION, ANALYSIS AND DIGESTION BY LYSOZYMES OF DIFFERENT ORIGINS. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1964 Nov 1;83:326–332. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DISCHE Z. New color reactions for determination of sugars in polysaccharides. Methods Biochem Anal. 1955;2:313–358. doi: 10.1002/9780470110188.ch11. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Elson L. A., Morgan W. T. A colorimetric method for the determination of glucosamine and chondrosamine. Biochem J. 1933;27(6):1824–1828. doi: 10.1042/bj0271824. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- GOLDMAN D. S. Enzyme systems in the mycobacteria. A review. Bibl Tuberc. 1961;16:1–44. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- KOTANI S., HASHIMOTO S., MATSUBARA T., KATO K., HARADA K., KOGAMI J. LYSIS OF ISOLATED BCG CELL WALLS WITH ENZYMES. 2. DEMONSTRATION OF 'BOUND WAX D' AS A COMPONENT OF BCG CELL WALLS. Biken J. 1963 Oct;6:181–196. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kanetsuna F. Chemical analyses of mycobacterial cell walls. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1968 Apr 16;158(1):130–143. doi: 10.1016/0304-4165(68)90080-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Migliore D., Acharya N. P., Jollès P. Caractérisation de quantités importantes d'acide glutamique dans les parois de mycobactéries de souches humaines virulentes. C R Acad Sci Hebd Seances Acad Sci D. 1966 Sep 12;263(11):846–848. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rimington C. Seromucoid and the bound carbohydrate of the serum proteins. Biochem J. 1940 Jun;34(6):931–940. doi: 10.1042/bj0340931. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- TAKEYA K., HISATSUNE K. Mycobacterial cell walls. I. Methods of preparation and treatment with various chemicals. J Bacteriol. 1963 Jan;85:16–23. doi: 10.1128/jb.85.1.16-23.1963. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]