A novel glycosidase, an endo-glucosaminidase active on the cell wall peptidoglycan with N-unsubstituted glucosamine residues

Peptidoglycan of Rhodopseudomonas viridis: partial lack of N-acetyl substitution of glucosamine

A lack of at least 70% of N-acetyl substitution of glucosamine in the glycan strands of the peptidoglycan from the gram-negative bacterium Rhodopseudomonas viridis is reported. A disaccharide, very likely GlcN beta(1 leads to 4) Mur, was observed in hydrolysates of the isolated peptidoglycan. The disaccharide was not observed when peptidoglycan was N-acetylated before hydrolysis. The peptidoglycan of R. viridis was resistant to lysozyme but became sensitive after N-acetylation with acetic anhydride. The disaccharide was found with peptidoglycan from all R. viridis strains investigated, as well as with R. sulfoviridis P1 and R. palustris strains, but not with peptidoglycan from R. gelatinosa, Rhodospirillum tenue, and Pseudomonas diminuta NCTC 8545.

Separation and characterization of an autolytic endo-beta-glucosaminidase from Bacillus cereus

1. An autolytic endo-beta-glucosaminidase, capable of cleaving the glycoside linkages of N-unsubstituted glucosamine in the glycan moiety of cell wall peptidoglycan, was purified 470-fold from a salt extract of the 2,000 x g precipitate fraction obtained after sonication of a lysozyme-resistant strain of Bacillus cereus. The properties of this enzyme were studied. 2. The purified enzyme preparation was also active towards the glycan chain of fully N-acetylated cell wall peptidoglycan. 3. The endo-beta-glucosaminidase was inactive towards the cell wall peptidoglycan unless the peptide portion of this polymer was removed either by the action of N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase or by the treatment with alkali in aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide. 4. Studies on the action of this enzyme towards chemically modified glycans revealed that the carboxyl groups of muramic acid residues are indispensable to a substrate for this enzyme.

Extracellular proteases modify cell wall turnover in Bacillus subtilis

The rate of turnover of peptidoglycan in exponentially growing cultures of Bacillus subtilis was observed to be sensitive to extracellular protease. In protease-deficient mutants the rates of cell wall turnover were greater than that of wild-type strain 168, whereas hyperprotease-producing strains exhibited decreased rates of peptidoglycan turnover. The rate of peptidogylcan turnover in a protease-deficient strain was decreased when the mutant was grown in the presence of a hyperprotease-producing strain. The addition of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, a serine protease inhibitor, to cultures of hyperprotease-producing strains increased their rates of cell wall turnover. Isolated cell walls of all protease mutants contained autolysin levels equal to or greater than that of wild-type strain 168. The presence of filaments, or cells with incomplete septa, was observed in hyperprotease-producing strains or when a protease-deficient strain was grown in the presence of subtilisin. The results suggest that the turnover of cell walls in B. subtilis may be regulated by extracellular proteases.