COMPOSITION OF CELL WALL MUCOPEPTIDE FROM ARTHROBACTER GLOBIFORMIS

Abstract

Analysis of the cell wall mucopeptide of Arthrobacter globiformis showed that it is composed mainly of muramic acid, glucosamine, galactosamine, glutamic acid, alanine, and lysine. It also contains small and variable amounts of glycine and aspartic acid. No significant qualitative differences were detected between strains of the organisms or between walls of the same organism grown on different media or harvested at two different stages of growth. The most striking quantitative difference was the presence of a higher proportion of amino sugars in walls obtained from pleomorphic cells than from those of coccoid cells. The results are discussed in terms of cell wall structure.