Absence of penicillin-binding protein 4 from an apparently normal strain of Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

The phenotype of a Bacillus subtilis 168 strain with no detectable penicillin-binding protein 4 was examined. Despite the fact that penicillin-binding protein 4 is one of the most penicillin-sensitive proteins in the species, its apparent loss had no obvious effect on the organism or its susceptibility to various beta-lactam antibiotics.

The role and regulation of cell wall structural dynamics during differentiation of endospore‐forming bacteria

“…The importance of cell wall growth is shown by the action of cell wall synthesis inhibitory antibiotics such as penicillin and vancomycin, which have proved to be such effective antibacterial chemotherapeutic reagents. The importance of individual components of the wall biosynthetic machinery is not always easy to define, strains of B. subtilis missing either PBP 4 or 5 have been isolated or constructed and found to have no obvious vegetative abnormalities Buchanan 1987). Wall expansion allows growth of the cell and in the bacilli, new wall material is added all over the inside of the cylindrical wall.…”