Abstract
THE word “organization” in the title of this communication is used advisedly. There is growing evidence1–4 that the polysaccharides and teichoic acids that can be extracted from the walls of Gram-positive bacteria by reagents such as acids and formamide were originally covalently bonded to the mucopeptide framework, the extraction procedures having hydrolysed such bonds. Evidence has increased about the fine structure of mucopeptides and about the wide variety of other polymers found in bacterial walls5. The current concept is that all mucopeptides consist of polysaccharide backbones made of N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid linked together by β-(l→4)-glycosidic bonds6,7.
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HUGHES, R., PAVLIK, J., ROGERS, H. et al. Organization of Polymers in the Cell Walls of some Bacilli. Nature 219, 642–644 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/219642a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/219642a0
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