CELL-WALL POLYSACCHARIDES IN CORYNEFORM BACTERIA

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Abstract
From the cell walls of 45 species (14 genera) of coryneform bacteria, we isolated polysaccharides and teichoic acids covalently linked to the peptidoglycan, and examined their chemical composition. Glycerol teichoic acid appeared in strains of the genera Brevibacterium, Pimelobacter, Rarobacter, in all of the species belonging to the "Arthrobacter nicotianae group" of the genus Arthrobacter, and in A. crystallopoietes belonging to the "A. globiformis group." Strains of the genera Rubrobacter, Aureobacterium, Clavibacter, Brachybacterium, Exiguobacterium and species belonging to the "A. globiformis group" of the genus Arthrobacter contained neutral polysaccharide. Strains of the genera Corynebacterium and Caseobacter had arabinogalactan, as was already known. The sugar composition of the cell-wall polysaccharides in the coryneform bacteria was neither uniform within the genus nor characteristic of each genus in the sugar profile, except for the genera Corynebacterium and Caseobacter which had arabinose and galactose as diagnostic sugars. On the other hand, the kind of cell-wall polymer, whether it is a neutral polysaccharide, teichoic acid or arabinogalactan, was homogeneous within each genus; hence, cell-wall polymers can be used as chemotaxonomic markers for classifying coryneform bacteria.
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