Anionic Polymers of the Cell Wall of Brevibacterium linens VKM Ac-2159

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N. V. Potekhina^1*, A. S. Shashkov², G. M. Streshinskaya¹, S. N. Senchenkova², and L. I. Evtushenko³

¹Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow, Russia; fax: (7-095) 939-4309; E-mail: potekchina@hotbox.ru

²Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky pr. 47, 117913 Moscow, Russia; fax: (7-095) 135-5328

³All-Russian Collection of Microorganisms (VKM), Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142292 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia; fax: (7-095) 923-3602

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received September 15, 2004; Revision received November 15, 2004

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Unsubstituted 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) and two sugar-1-phosphate polymers were identified in the cell wall of Brevibacterium linens VKM Ac-2159 by NMR spectroscopy and chemical methods. A monomer of one of the sugar-1-phosphate polymers has the branched repeating unit of the following structure: -4)-[beta-D-GlcpNAc-(1→3)]-alpha-D-Glcp-(1-P-. The repeating unit of another sugar-1-phosphate polymer has a linear structure consisting of alternating beta- and alpha-N-acetylglucosamine residues: -4)-beta-D-GlcpNAc-(1→6)-alpha-D-GlcpNAc-(1-P-. Some part of the beta-N-acetylglucosaminyl residues bear O-ester-bound succinic acid residues at C-3. The identified sugar-1-phosphate polymers have not been described earlier in cell walls of other bacteria.

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KEY WORDS: Brevibacterium, teichoic acids, sugar-1-phosphate polymer, succinic acid, NMR spectroscopy

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