BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE ACTINOMYCETALES III

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Abstract
The bacterial nature of the actinomycete cell wall was demonstrated by a number of criteria. In amino acid and carbohydrate composition, the walls of species of the genus Nocardia are very similar to the walls of corynebacteria. Arabinose, galactose, glutamic acid, diaminopimelic acid, and alanine are the principal constituents found in these walls. In general, the actinomycetes resemble the gram-positive bacteria in that their amino acid composition is somewhat limited, and in that many of them are susceptible to lysis by lysozyme. Proline and S-containing amino acids were generally not found in the cell walls of actinomycetes. The action of lysozyme is primarily upon the cell wall of susceptible organisms. The substrate for lysozyme seems to in clude a considerable amount of hexosamine and possibly a phosphate ester. Lysis of the cell wall results in the release of a complex mix ture of peptides, but free amino acids or free amino sugar are not re leased.