Peptidoglycan synthesis and turnover in cell division mutants of Agmenellum

Abstract

The synthesis and turnover of peptidoglycan in Agmenellum quadruplicatum was investigated using D-LU-'4C]alanine followed by proteolytic digestion. The rate of turnover of alanine in the peptide portion of the peptidoglycan was measured in strain BG-1 and in two division mutants of this strain: one was blocked in cell separation; and the other was a low-temperature, conditional cell division mutant. The peptide portion of peptidoglycan turned over in all three strains tested, but no correlation was observed between septum formation or cell separation and the rate of turnover. Peptidoglycan synthesis was measured during induced division in snake forms of strain SN-29. A stimulation of peptidoglycan synthesis was observed during the period of cross-wall formation, even in the absence of new protein synthesis. Thus in A. quadruplicatum, cross-wall synthesis is accompanied by a stimulation of peptidoglycan synthesis.Peptidoglycan synthesis and turnover during induced cell division of SN-29 snake forms. Strain SN-29 was grown at the nonpermissive temperature (30 334 on August 5, 2020 by guest

Muramic acid as a measure of microbial biomass in estuarine and marine samples

“…Bacillus subtilis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae lose 50% per generation (16,23,24); Lactobacillus acidophilus loses 30% per generation (5); and Staphylococcus aureus, B. megaterium, and B. cereus lose 12 to 18% per generation (8,23,33). Blue-green algae lose 16 to 26% of the muramyl peptide per generation (11). E. coli and Streptococcus faecalis lose no muramyl pentapeptide per generation during exponential growth (5, 9, 31).In Staphylococcus, Lactobacillus, and Bacillus species, varying the periods of incubation with the radioactive precursor showed that the more newly synthesized wall was less likely to be utilized than the older portions of the wall.…”