Anionic phosphate-containing cell wall polymers of bacilli are represented by teichoic acids and poly(glycosyl 1-phosphates). Different locations of phosphodiester bonds in the main chain of teichoic acids as well as the nature and combination of the constituent structural elements underlie their structural diversity. Currently, the structures of teichoic acids of bacilli can be classified into three types, viz. poly(polyol phosphates) with glycerol or ribitol as the polyol; poly(glycosylpolyol phosphates), mainly glycerol-containing polymers; and poly(acylglycosylglycerol phosphate), in which the components are covalently linked through glycosidic, phosphodiester, and amide bonds. In addition to teichoic acids, poly(glycosyl 1-phosphates) with mono- and disaccharide residues in the repeating units have been detected in cell walls of several Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus strains. The known structures of teichoic acids and poly(glycosyl 1-phosphates) of B. subtilis, B. atrophaeus, B. licheniformis, B. pumilus, B. stearothermophilus, B. coagulans, B. cereus as well as oligomers that link the polymers to peptidoglycan are surveyed. The reported data on the structures of phosphate-containing polymers of different strains of B. subtilis suggest heterogeneity of the species and may be of interest for the taxonomy of bacilli to allow differentiation of closely related organisms according to the "structures and composition of cell wall polymers" criterion.

Cell walls of Bacillus subtilis VKM B-760 and VKM B-764 are characterized by heterogeneous composition of teichoic acids. Polymer I with structure -6)-beta-D-Galp-(1-->1)-sn-Gro-(3-P-, polymer II with structure -6)-alpha-D-Glcp-(1-->1)-sn-Gro-(3-P-, and a small amount of unsubstituted 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) were detected in strain VKM B-760. Strain VKM B-764 contains an analogous set of teichoic acids, but a characteristic feature of polymer II is the presence of disubstituted glycerol residue with alpha-glucopyranose localization in the integral chain at C-1 hydroxyl and beta-glucopyranose as a side branch at C-2 hydroxyl (polymer III): -6)-alpha-D-Glcp-(1-->1)-[beta-D-Glcp-(1-->2)]-sn-Gro-(3-P-. The structures of polymer I in bacilli and polymer III in Gram-positive bacteria are described for the first time. Teichoic acids were studied by chemical methods and on the basis of combined analysis of one-dimensional 1H-, 13C-, and (31)P-NMR spectra, homonuclear two-dimensional (1)H/(1)H COSY, TOCSY, and ROESY, and heteronuclear two-dimensional (1)H/(13)C gHSQC- and HMQC-TOCSY experiments. Simultaneous presence of several different structure teichoic acids in the bacillus cell walls as well as chemotaxonomical perspectives of the application of these polymers as species-specific markers for members of the Bacillus genus is discussed.

The subject of the present review is the structural diversity and abundance of cell wall teichuronic and teichulosonic acids of representatives of the order Actinomycetales. Recently found teichulosonic acids are a new class of natural glycopolymers with ald-2-ulosonic acid residues: Kdn (3-deoxy-D-glycero-D-galacto-non-2-ulosonic acid) or di-N-acyl derivatives of Pse (5,7-diamino-3,5,7,9-tetradeoxy-L-glycero-L-manno-non-2-ulosonic or pseudaminic acid) as the obligatory component. The structures of teichuronic and teichulosonic acids are presented. Data are summarized on the occurrence of the glycopolymers of different nature in the cell wall of the studied actinomycetes. The biological role of the glycopolymers and their possible taxonomic implication are discussed. The comprehensive tables given in the Supplement show (13)C NMR spectroscopic data of teichuronic and teichulosonic acids obtained by the authors.

No abstract