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. 1980 Dec;18(6):887–892. doi: 10.1128/aac.18.6.887

Inhibition of peptidoglycan synthesis in ether-permeabilized Escherichia coli cells by structural analogs of D-alanyl-D-alanine.

H Pelzer, W Reuter
PMCID: PMC352984  PMID: 7016026

Abstract

Several analogs of D-alanyl-D-alanine have been proved to be competitive inhibitors of murein (cross-linked peptidoglycan) synthesis in either-permeabilized cells of Escherichia coli. Some analogs, distinguished from D-alanyl-D-alanine only by minor structural deviations, were incorporated into a murein-like sodium dodecyl sulfate-insoluble material in place of the natural substrate. These analogs therefore could be designated as competitive substrates of the cross-linked end product of murein synthesis. In contrast, others, even those containing bulky residues at the methyl group of the amino-terminal D-alanine, exhibited inhibition of murein synthesis. The last-mentioned group of analogs also inhibited a blank value which seems to be a characteristic feature of this system without added D-alanyl-D-alanine. From this data, a steady-state concentration of D-alanyl-D-alanine or D-alanine or both in growing cells of E. coli could be calculated as approximately 0.4 x 10(-3) M.

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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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