title: Arrangement of peptidoglycan in the cell wall of Staphylococcus spp.
abstract: The arrangement of peptidoglycan in the cell wall of Staphylococcus was observed with the newly developed freeze-fracture technique, using n-octanol instead of water as the freezing medium. The replica of the trichloroacetic acid-extracted cell wall (TCA-wall) showed two areas. One of them has a concentric circular structure, a characteristic surface structure of the staphylococcal cell wall, and the other showed an irregular and rough surface. The chemical analysis of the wall revealed that the TCA-wall consisted of mostly peptidoglycan. By digesting the TCA-wall with lysozyme, the circular structures were greatly disturbed, and they disappeared after 60 min of treatment. From these observations it can be expected that the peptidoglycan is arranged in a concentric circular manner in the newly generated cell wall of Staphylococcus.
mesh_terms: D002473:Cell Wall / Q000032:analysis / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005613:Freeze Etching; D005614:Freeze Fracturing; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000032:analysis*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000032:analysis / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000032:analysis / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014238:Trichloroacetic Acid
chemical_list: D010457:Peptidoglycan; D014238:Trichloroacetic Acid