Two proposed general configurations for bacterial cell wall peptidoglycans shown by space‐filling molecular models

Bacterial cell wall peptidoglycans are built from unbranched β‐(1 → 4)‐linked glycan chains composed of alternately repeating units of N ‐acetylglucosamine and N ‐acetylmuramic acid residues, with peptide side chains attached to the muramic acid residues. The glycan chains are interconnected by peptide bonds formed between the peptide side chains. Through the use of three‐dimensional molecular models, two configurations of the glycan strands and the peptide side chains are described, which by their constancy of form reflect the fundamental constancies of the covalent structures. Each of these two models will accommodate any chemical modification that has been observed in bacteria without change in the configuration of the peptide backbone. Some alterations in the chemical structure, which have been sought in bacteria, but not found, would not be tolerated by the models. In these models, glycan strands are parallel, with their lengths and widths predominantly in the plane of the cell wall. The cross‐bridging portions of the peptide side chains are at right angles to the glycan strand, in a separate, parallel plane. A compact model is presented in which the peptide side chain is closely appressed to the glycan strand and is stabilized by three hydrogen bonds per disaccharide–peptide subunit. In a second model, the peptide side chain is raised away from the glycan strand in an entirely extended configuration. The compact and extended forms are interconvertible. The thickness of a sheet of peptidoglycan would be from 10.6 to 11.1 Å for the compact model, and 19.1 Å for the extended model.