Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1970 Aug;103(2):387–392. doi: 10.1128/jb.103.2.387-392.1970

Amino Acid Sequence of the Murein of Planococcus and Other Micrococcaceae

K H Schleifer 1, O Kandler 1
PMCID: PMC248092  PMID: 4247024

Abstract

The amino acid composition and amino acid sequence of the murein (peptidoglycan) of 10 strains of planococci were studied. It is shown that the peptide subunit consists of muramyl-l-alanyl-γ-d-glutamyl-l-lysyl-d -alanine. The cross-linking of two adjacent peptide subunits is mediated by d-glutamic acid which is bound to the ε-amino group of lysine by its γ-carboxyl group and to the carboxyl group of d-alanine of an adjacent peptide subunit by its amino group. About 20 to 25% of the peptide subunits are not cross-linked. The murein structure of the different species and strains of Micrococcus, Staphylococcus, and Sarcina are compared. It is evident that the murein structure is a very good criterion for grouping the micrococci. In addition, some of these groups are fairly well defined by physiological properties as well as by their guanine + cytosine content of the deoxyribonucleic acid e.g., Micrococcus, Staphylococcus, Planococcus, Sarcina ureae. Other groups, represented by a single or a few strains only, such as M. varians NTCC 7281, M. radiodurans, M. freudenreichii ATCC 407, and M. luteus ATCC 398, need further investigation.

Full text

PDF
387

Selected References

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

  1. Auletta A. E., Kennedy E. R. Deoxyribonucleic acid base composition of some members of the Micrococcaceae. J Bacteriol. 1966 Jul;92(1):28–34. doi: 10.1002/path.1700920103. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BAIRD-PARKER A. C. THE CLASSIFICATION OF STAPHYLOCOCCI AND MICROCOCCI FROM WORLD-WIDE SOURCES. J Gen Microbiol. 1965 Mar;38:363–387. doi: 10.1099/00221287-38-3-363. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bohácek J., Kocur M., Martinec T. Deoxyribonucleic acid base composition of Sporosarcina ureae. Arch Mikrobiol. 1968;64(1):23–28. doi: 10.1007/BF00412127. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bohácek J., Kocur M., Martinec T. Deoxyribonucleic acid base composition of some marine and halophilic micrococci. J Appl Bacteriol. 1968 Jun;31(2):215–219. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1968.tb00360.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. CUMMINS C. S., HARRIS H. The chemical composition of the cell wall in some gram-positive bacteria and its possible value as a taxonomic character. J Gen Microbiol. 1956 Jul;14(3):583–600. doi: 10.1099/00221287-14-3-583. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Ghuysen J. M., Bricas E., Lache M., Leyh-Bouille M. Structure of the cell walls of Micrococcus lysodeikticus. 3. Isolation of a new peptide dimer, N-alpha-[L-alanyl-gamma-(alpha-D-glutamylglycine)]-L-lysyl-D-alanyl-N-alpha-[L-alanyl-gamma-(alpha-D-glutamylglycine)]-L-lysyl-D-alanine. Biochemistry. 1968 Apr;7(4):1450–1460. doi: 10.1021/bi00844a030. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Ghuysen J. M., Bricas E., Leyh-Bouille M., Lache M., Shockman G. D. The peptide N alpha-(L-alanyl-D-isoglutaminyl)-N epsilon-(D-isoasparaginyl)-L-lysyl-D-alanine and the disaccharide N-acetylglucosaminyl-beta-1,4-N-acetylmuramic acid in cell wall peptidoglycan of Streptococcus faecalis strain ATCC 9790. Biochemistry. 1967 Aug;6(8):2607–2619. doi: 10.1021/bi00860a044. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Ghuysen J. M. Use of bacteriolytic enzymes in determination of wall structure and their role in cell metabolism. Bacteriol Rev. 1968 Dec;32(4 Pt 2):425–464. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Guinand M., Ghuysen J. M., Schleifer K. H., Kandler O. The peptidoglycan in walls of Butyribacterium rettgeri. Biochemistry. 1969 Jan;8(1):200–207. doi: 10.1021/bi00829a029. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kandler O., Koch D., Schleifer K. H. Die Aminosäuresequenz eines glycinhaltigen Mureins einiger Stämme von Lactobacillus bifidus. Arch Mikrobiol. 1968;61(2):181–186. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kandler O., Schleifer K. H., Dandl R. Differentiation of Streptococcus faecalis Andrewes and Horder and Streptococcus faecium Orla-Jensen based on the amino acid composition of their murein. J Bacteriol. 1968 Dec;96(6):1935–1939. doi: 10.1128/jb.96.6.1935-1939.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Niebler E., Schleifer K. H., Kandler O. The amino acid sequence of the L-glutamic acid containing mureins of Micrococcus luteus and M. freudenreichii. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1969 Mar 10;34(5):560–568. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(69)90774-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Petit J. F., Munoz E., Ghuysen J. M. Peptide cross-links in bacterial cell wall peptidoglycans studied with specific endopeptidases from Streptomyces albus G. Biochemistry. 1966 Aug;5(8):2764–2776. doi: 10.1021/bi00872a037. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rosypal S., Rosypalová A., Horejs J. The classification of micrococci and staphylococci based on their DNA base composition and adansonian analysis. J Gen Microbiol. 1966 Aug;44(2):281–292. doi: 10.1099/00221287-44-2-281. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schleifer K. H., Huss L., Kandler O. Die Beeinflussung der Aminosäuresequenz des serinhaltigen Mureins von Staphylococcus epidermidis Stamm 24 durch die Nährobodenzusammenstzung. Arch Mikrobiol. 1969;68(4):387–404. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Schleifer K. H., Kandler O. Micrococcus lysodeikticus: a new type of cross-linkage of the murein. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1967 Sep 27;28(6):965–972. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(67)90074-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Schleifer K. H., Kandler O. Zur chemischen Zusammensetzung der Zellwand der Streptokokken. II. Die Aminosäuresequenz des Mureins von Str. lactis und cremoris. Arch Mikrobiol. 1967 Jul 6;57(4):365–381. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Schleifer K. H., Ried M., Kandler O. Die Aminosauresequenz des Mureins von Staphylococcus epidermidis (Winslow and Winslow) Evans, Stamm 66. Arch Mikrobiol. 1968;62(2):198–208. doi: 10.1007/BF00410406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tipper D. J. Structures of the cell wall peptidoglycans of Staphylococcus epidermidis Texas 26 and Staphylococcus aureus Copenhagen. II. Structure of neutral and basic peptides from hydrolysis with the Myxobacter al-1 peptidase. Biochemistry. 1969 May;8(5):2192–2202. doi: 10.1021/bi00833a061. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. WEIDEL W., PELZER H. BAGSHAPED MACROMOLECULES--A NEW OUTLOOK ON BACTERIAL CELL WALLS. Adv Enzymol Relat Areas Mol Biol. 1964;26:193–232. doi: 10.1002/9780470122716.ch5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES