On the Peptidoglycan of the Cell Walls of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract

The peptidoglycan from cell walls of Pseudomonas aeruginosa consists of a macromolecular bag‐shaped network of covalently linked repeating units. Metal ions obviously do not participate in conserving its structure, nor could any other component besides glutamic acid, 2,5‐diaminopimelic acid, alanine, glucosamine and muramic acid (the latter two possibly being acetylated) be shown to be a constituent of the peptidoglycan sacculus. Approximately one out of four diaminopimelate residues of the repeating units of the peptidoglycan is cross‐linked to another unit. The protein covalently bound to the peptidoglycan can be removed from the latter by proteolytic digestion. Lysis experiments proved that Tris buffer and EDTA attack the outer layers of the cell wall which protect the peptidoglycan against being hydrolyzed by lysozyme. Copyright © 1972, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved