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Biomedical subjects

A R Archibald

Publications and source records attributed to A R Archibald.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Bacteriophage SP50 as a marker for cell wall growth in Bacillus subtilis.

When grown under conditions of phosphate limitation, Bacillus subtilis W23 lacked wall teichoic acid and did not adsorb phage SP50. During transition from growth under conditions of phosphate limitation to those of potassium limitation, the bacteria developed an ability to adsorb phage which increased exponentially in relation to their content of wall teichoic acid. During transition in the reverse direction, the bacteria retained near-maximum phage-binding properties until their content of wall teichoic acid had fallen to a fairly low level. These observations suggest that newly incorporated wall material does not immediately appear at the cell surface in a structure to which phage can adsorb. Examination of the location of adsorbed phage particles showed that recently incorporated receptor material appeared at the cell surface first along the length of the cylindrical portion of the cell. The results are consistent with models of wall assembly in which newly synthesized wall material is intercalated at a large number of sites that are distributed along the length of the cell. This newly incorporated material may be located initially at a level underlying the surface of the cell and may become exposed at the surface only during subsequent growth. Incorporation of new material may also proceed rapidly into the developing septa, but new wall material is incorporated into existing polar caps more slowly, or perhaps not at all.

Adsorption↗
PubMed1976

Cell wall assembly in Bacillus subtilis: development of bacteriophage-binding properties as a result of the pulsed incorporation of teichoic acid.

Addition of a pulse of excess phosphate to a phosphate-limited culture of Bacillus subtilis W23 resulted in the synthesis and incorporation of wall material that contained teichoic acid. Consequently, the bacteria regained the ability to bind phage SP50 although maximum phage-binding properties did not develop until approximately half a generation time after incorporation of teichoic acid had ceased. The present findings strongly support our earlier suggestion that newly synthesized receptor material is incorporated at the inner surface of the wall and becomes exposed at the outer surface only during subsequent growth.

Adsorption↗
PubMed1975

Alterations in the composition and bacteriophage-binding properties of walls of Staphylococcus aureus H grown in continuous culture in simplified defined media.

A nutritional mutant of Staphylococcus aureus H has been isolated and grown in media in which the only amino acids are arginine, cysteine, glutamic acid and proline. Walls of the bacteria grown in such media in continuous culture under potassium limitation differ in composition from walls of the bacteria grown in batch culture in rich nutrient broth in that they contain less glycine, the peptidoglycan component is less highly cross-linked and the teichoic acid component contains a reduced proportion of N-acetylglucosaminyl substituents. Walls of the potassium-limited bacteria retain the ability to bind bacteriophage 52a but are more susceptible to the action of lytic peptidases than are wall samples in which the peptidoglycan is more highly cross-linked. Teichoic acid was present in walls of the bacteria grown under phosphate limitation in the defined medium and these walls were also able to absorb bacteriophage 52a.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1975

Studies on the linkage between teichoic acid and peptidoglycan in a bacteriophage-resistant mutant of Staphylococcus aureus H.

1. In addition to poly(ribitol phosphate) the walls of a bacteriophage-resistant mutant of Staphylococcus aureus H contain glycerol phosphate residues that are not removed on digestion with trypsin or extraction with phenol. 2. The glycerol phosphate is present in a chain, containing three or four glycerol phosphate residues, which is covalently attached to the peptidoglycan through a phosphodiester linkage to muramic acid; this linkage is readily hydrolysed by dilute alkali. 3. The degradative studies described suggest that the poly(ribitol phosphate) chains of the wall teichoic acid may be attached to the wall by linkage to this glycerol phosphate oligomer.

Cell Wall↗
PubMed1975

Poly(glucosylglycerol phosphate) teichoic acid in the walls of Bacillus stearothermophilus B65.

1. Walls of Bacillus stearothermophilus B65 contain a glycerol teichoic acid in which repeating structures consisting of 1-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosylglycerol phosphate are held together by phosphodiester linkage between the glycerol and glucose moieties of adjacent units. 2. The walls are not agglutinated on incubation with concanavalin A, nor does the isolated teichoic acid form a precipitate with this lectin. 3. No evidence was obtained of the presence of the glucosylated (1 leads to 2)-poly(glycerol phosphate) teichoic acid which has previously been reported to occur in walls of this bacterium.

Borohydrides↗
PubMed1975

An electron microscopic study of the location of teichoic acid and its contribution to staining reactions in walls of Streptococcus faecalis 8191.

The location of the glucosylated teichoic acid in whole cells and isolated walls of Streptococcus faecalis 8191 has been investigated using ruthenium red, gold-labelled concanavalin A and concanavalin A-peroxidase-diaminobenzidine. Dense laminae were revealed in sections of osmium-fixed walls stained with ruthenium red which corresponded to similar regions stained by uranyl and lead. Such regions were not seen after teichoic acid had been extracted, suggesting that the uptake of stain was by teichoic acid. However, these regions were not labelled on exposure to gold concanavalin A or concanavalin A-peroxidase-diaminobenzidine; these stains indicated that teichoic acid was situated between the dense laminae, although the distribution of stain could have been due to the inability of the concanavalin A stains to penetrate deeply. Chemical binding studies showed that the teichoic acid was the major uranyl binding component in isolated walls, from which it might be inferred that teichoic acid was located in the densely staining regions. However, since osmification significantly increased the binding of uranyl (and lead stains) to non-teichoic acid material, such an inference was not necessarily valid. It is concluded that the presence of teichoic acid can be demonstrated in certain regions of the wall by concanavalin A, but its presence in densely staining regions has not been established. These experiments therefore suggest that teichoic acid may not be intimately associated with the mechanisms that generate contrast patterns in stained sections of cell walls of Streptococcus faecalis.

3,3'-Diaminobenzidine↗
PubMed1973

The structure of a polymer containing galactosamine from walls of Bacillus subtilis 168.

Cell walls of Bacillus subtilis 168 contain a phosphorylated polysaccharide composed of N-acetylgalactosamine, glucose and phosphate. Controlled acid hydrolysis gives 3-O-beta-d-glucopyranosyl-N-acetylgalactosamine with a phosphomonoester group at the 6-position of glucose. It is likely that the polysaccharide consists of disaccharide units connected by phosphodiester residues joining the 1-position of N-acetylgalactosamine to the 6-position of glucose in the neighbouring unit.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1972

A polymer of N-acetylglucosamine 1-phosphate in the wall of Staphylococcus lactis 2102.

1. Walls of Staphylococcus lactis 2102 contain about 40% of a phosphorylated polysaccharide, which was isolated by extraction with cold trichloroacetic acid, with dilute NaOH, and also by digestion with a Flavobacterium peptidase. 2. The purified polymer contained equimolar proportions of N-acetylglucosamine and phosphate as its sole constituents and was readily hydrolysed under gentle acidic conditions to N-acetylglucosamine 6-phosphate. 3. Studies on the intact polymer showed that it is linear and that adjacent acetamido sugar units are joined by phosphodiester bonds between their 1- and 6-positions, the glycosidic linkages having the alpha-configuration. This polymer is thus the simplest of the known microbial wall polymers possessing sugar 1-phosphate linkages. 4. Alkali degradation of the extracted polymer proceeds predominantly in a stepwise manner from the reducing end, but evidence was obtained for the direct hydrolysis of some of the inter-unit phosphodiester groups.

Acids↗
PubMed1972

The location of N-acetylgalactosamine in the walls of Bacillus subtilis 168.

The N-acetylgalactosamine in the walls of Bacillus subtilis 168 occurs in two polymers. One of these contains N-acetylgalactosamine, glucose and phosphorus and is attached to the peptidoglycan through an alkali-labile bond; preliminary studies indicate that a repeating unit of this polymer is glucosyl-N-acetylgalactosamine 1-phosphate. N-Acetylgalactosamine is also associated with the peptidoglycan in a component that is not converted into the free sugar or other soluble compounds on treatment of the walls with alkali. The two polymers containing N-acetylgalactosamine are released on autolysis of the walls and can be separated by ion-exchange chromatography. As glucose 6-phosphate is produced by gentle hydrolysis of the wall with acid a third phosphate polymer, poly(glucose 1-phosphate), may occur in this wall. However, as no polymer with this structure could be separated from that containing galactosamine, its existence has not been established unequivocally. The methods described permit the study of variations in N-acetylgalactosamine content with respect to growth conditions.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1971

The wall teichoic acids of Lactobacillus plantarum N.I.R.D.C106. Location of the phosphodiester groups and separation of the chains.

1. The identities of the component glycerol glucosides of the wall teichoic acids of Lactobacillus plantarum N.I.R.D. C106 have been confirmed by methylation analysis. These glucosides are alpha-d-glucopyranosyl-(1-->1)-l-glycerol, alpha-d-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-d-glucopyranosyl-(1-->1)-l-glycerol and alpha-d-glucopyranosyl-(1-->3)-alpha-d-glucopyranosyl-(1-->1)-l-glycerol. 2. These units are connected by phosphodiester groups attached to the 3(l)-hydroxyl group of glycerol and the 6-hydroxyl group of the non-reducing terminal glucose residues in the adjacent unit. 3. Concanavalin A forms a precipitate with the teichoic acid and the material so precipitated contains only the alpha-d-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-d-glucopyranosyl -(1-->1)-l-glycerol component. This unit is therefore present in a homogeneous polymer so that the teichoic acid is a mixture of this and of other possibly homogeneous chains containing the other two components.

Borohydrides↗
PubMed1971

Further studies on the glycerol teichoic acid of walls of Staphylococcus lactis I3. Location of the phosphodiester groups and their susceptibility to hydrolysis with alkali.

1. The teichoic acid from walls of Staphylococcus lactis I3 is readily degraded in dilute alkali. 2. Degradation proceeds by selective hydrolysis of that phosphodiester group attached to an alcoholic hydroxyl group of the N-acetylglucosamine and gives a repeating unit in high yield. 3. Further studies on a different repeating unit isolated by partial acid hydrolysis have shown that the glycerol diphosphate is attached to the 4-hydroxyl group of the N-acetylglucosamine and not to the 3-hydroxyl group as was proposed earlier. 4. The susceptibility towards hydrolysis by alkali of other structural types of teichoic acid has been examined and found to vary markedly according to their structure.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗