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Structure of peptidoglycan

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Microbial Cell Walls and Membranes

Abstract

The fundamental polymer that is a common component of the cell walls of Grampositive and Gram-negative bacteria, Rickettsiae and blue-green bacteria is called peptidoglycan (formerly mucopeptide or murein). As its name implies, it consists of glycan chains with peptide substituents, and in all examples that have been studied the peptide subunits are cross-linked so that the overall structure is a network that surrounds the cell. This network seems responsible for the integrity of the shape of Gram-positive bacteria, and at least partially of Gram-negative bacteria as well. Certainly when the peptidoglycan is degraded, as for instance by lysozyme, the bacterium tends to lose its characteristic shape and to form a spherical body known as a spheroplast, which usually needs to be maintained in a hypertonic medium if it is not to burst because of the high osmotic pressure within it and the lack of external support. The chemical composition of peptidoglycan has been established over the period since the early 1950s, when Salton [40] first showed that the cell walls prepared from Gram-positive organisms were of a comparatively simple amino acid composition, although both he and Weidel [56] found that the walls of Gramnegative species were more complex.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, UK

    H. J. Rogers (Head) & J. B. Ward

  2. University of Liverpool, UK

    H. R. Perkins (Professor of Microbiology)

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  1. H. J. Rogers
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  2. H. R. Perkins
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© 1980 H. J. Rogers, H. R. Perkins and J. B. Ward

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Rogers, H.J., Perkins, H.R., Ward, J.B. (1980). Structure of peptidoglycan. In: Microbial Cell Walls and Membranes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6014-8_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6014-8_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-011-6016-2

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