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1 Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
2 Institute for Analytical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Waehringer Str. 38, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
3 Department of Molecular Biology, University of Odense, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark
ABSTRACT
The composition and structure of peptidoglycan from dormant spores of Bacillus megaterium KM and its dynamics during germination were investigated. Amino acid analysis and mass spectrometry identified 21 muropeptides resolved by reverse phase HPLC following digestion of peptidoglycan with Cellosyl. The basic structure of peptidoglycan in B. megaterium spores is similar to that of Bacillus subtilis: 44·2% of muramic acid residues are substituted with 
-lactam, 28·8% with single L-alanine, 25·1% with tetrapeptide and only 1·8% with tripeptide. The cross-linking index of the spore peptidoglycan, determined from muropeptides resolved by reverse phase HPLC, was 2·2% per muramic acid. Spore peptidoglycan contains 2·9% of muropeptides with unsubstituted N-acetylmuramic acid. These muropeptides are likely to be intermediate products of -lactam formation. Analysis of muropeptide dynamics during germination revealed the activity of at least two hydrolytic enzymes, an N-acetylglucosaminidase and a lytic transglycosylase. A 4 M LiCl extract from 30 min germinated spores of B. megaterium KM caused ‘germination-like' changes to permeabilized spores of B. megaterium and B. subtilis but not those of a B. subtilis cwID mutant. Muropeptide analysis of the treated spores revealed the presence of products generated by the activity of a glucosaminidase.
Author for correspondence: Simon J. Foster. Tel: + 44 114 222 4411. Fax: + 44 114 272 8697. e-mail: S.Foster@sheffield.ac.uk
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