Open AccessIncorporation of S‐[ 3 H]methyl‐ d ‐cysteine into the peptidoglycan of ether‐treated cells of Escherichia coli
Author(s) -
Caparrós Marta,
Arán Vicente,
Pedro Miguel A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1992.tb05080.x
Subject(s) - peptidoglycan , escherichia coli , cysteine , biochemistry , biosynthesis , ether , amino acid , substrate (aquarium) , in vitro , metabolism , enzyme , biology , chemistry , gene , organic chemistry , ecology
Certain d ‐amino acids can be incorporated into the murein sacculus of Escherichia coli apparently through a direct transpeptidation reaction independent of the normal biosynthetic pathway. Investigation of this process is important because it could lead to the identification of hitherto unknown enzymes involved in murein metabolism. However, a serious drawback is the lack of an appropriate in vitro assay. We have analysed the suitability of a system based on the incorporation of a radioactive substrate (S‐[ 3 H]methyl‐ d ‐cysteine) by ether‐treated cells, a method successfully applied before to the study of murein biosynthesis. The results reported here indicate that ether‐treated cells are indeed proficient in the incorporation of d ‐amino acids, matching closely the properties of the reaction in growing cells.