Elongation of teichuronic acid chains by a wall-membrane preparation from Micrococcus luteus.
A wall-plus-membrane preparation from Micrococcus luteus catalyzes the incorporation of [14C]glucose from UDP-[14C]glucose, into two fractions of teichuronic acid, which is the cell wall polysaccharide consisting of alternating residues of glucose and N-acetylmannosaminuronic acid (ManNAcUA). Membrane-associated teichuronic acid was extracted from the wall-membrane fraction of reaction mixtures by sodium dodecyl sulfate. The synthesis of membrane-associated teichuronic acid required UDP-glucose, UDP-ManNAcUA, and UDP-N-acetylglucosamine and was inhibited by tunicamycin. Glucose incorporated into wall-bound teichuronic acid remained in wall fragments after extraction with sodium dodecyl sulfate, and its incorporation required UDP-glucose and UDP-ManNAcUA (but not UDP-N-acetylglucosamine) and was insensitive to tunicamycin. Radioactive material incorporated into wall-bound teichuronic acid could be released by treatment with mild acid or by digestion with lysozyme, indicating that the wall-bound teichuronic acid was covalently linked to peptidoglycan. There were about 600 pmol of wall-bound teichuronic acid acceptor sites for glucose per mg of protein as measured in incorporation reaction mixtures lacking UDP-ManNAcUA. In the presence of both UDP-glucose and UDP-ManNAcUA, elongation of teichuronic acid acceptor sites occurred, with the addition of six to eight disaccharide units to each acceptor site.
D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D008837:Micrococcus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000378:metabolism; D014415:Tunicamycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D014532:Uridine Diphosphate Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D014537:Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylglucosamine / Q000378:metabolism; D014539:Uridine Diphosphate Sugars / Q000378:metabolism; D014574:Uronic Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D010457:Peptidoglycan; D014539:Uridine Diphosphate Sugars; D014574:Uronic Acids; D014415:Tunicamycin; C020949:uridine diphosphate N-acetyl-D-mannosaminuronic acid; C010788:teichuronic acid; D014537:Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylglucosamine; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D014532:Uridine Diphosphate Glucose