[Polysaccharide composition of the cell wall of Streptomyces antibioticus RIA-594(39), a producer of the antibiotic oleandomycin]

Abstract

The main polysaccharide components of the cell wall in S. antibioticus RIA-594 (39) i.e. peptidoglycan, teichoic acid and polysaccharide were studied. Peptidoglycan consists of the polysaccharide fraction containing equimolar quantities of N-acetylglucosamine and muramic acid and the peptide subunits including alanine, glutamic and L,L-diaminopimelic acids and glycine at a ratio of 1.4:0.9:1:0.9. It is characteristic that certain peptide subunits of the streptomycete contain no alanine. A polysaccharide differing from glycerol teichoic acid and containing galactose and N-acetylglucosamine was isolated from the cell wall. During the streptomycete development the quantity of peptidoglycan remained constant, the quantity of teichoic acid lowered and the quantity of polysaccharide increased. Correlation between the presence of aminosugars in the composition of teichoic acid and polysaccharide specific of the streptomycete cell wall and the presence of aminosugars in the structure of oleandomycin was shown. This is probably connected with characteristic features of the organism physiology.