title: Lysozyme digestion and chemical characterization of the peptidoglycan of Fusobacterium nucleatum Fev 1.
abstract: The amino acids in the peptidoglycan of Fusobacterium nucleatum Fev 1 are D-glutamic acid, meso-lanthionine, and D- (42%) and L-alanine (58%). About 70% of the lanthionine residues were not susceptible to dinitrophenylation, evidently because they are involved in cross-linkages. Consequently, lysozyme digestion of the peptidoglycan yielded 20 to 25% uncross-linked disaccharide tri- and tetrapeptides. A chemical analysis of isolated glycopeptides indicated that the structure of the building block of this peptidoglycan is N-acetylgucosamine-N-acetylmuramic acid-L-alanine-D-glutamic acid-meso-lanthionine(-D-alanine). I present evidence which supports the classification of the F. nucleatum Fev 1 peptidoglycan as a new A1 delta, directly cross-linked, meso-lanthionine-containing peptidoglycan.
mesh_terms: D000409:Alanine / Q000032:analysis; D001438:Bacteroidaceae / Q000032:analysis*; D001894:Borohydrides; D004140:Dinitrophenols; D005971:Glutamates / Q000032:analysis; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D006020:Glycopeptides / Q000032:analysis; D006834:Hydrazines; D009113:Muramidase; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D001894:Borohydrides; D004140:Dinitrophenols; D005971:Glutamates; D006020:Glycopeptides; D006834:Hydrazines; D010457:Peptidoglycan; D018698:Glutamic Acid; C025364:sodium borohydride; D009113:Muramidase; D000409:Alanine