Bacillus subtilis teichoic acid from

All of the ribitol teichoic acids so far examined are composed of chains of ribitol residues joined through phosphodiester groups at C-l and C-5. Each chain is terminated by a phosphomonoester residue, and the ribitol residues bear glycosyl and D-alanine ester substituents. Detailed structures have been proposed for the polymers from Bacillus aubtilis and Lactobacillus arabinosus, and from two strains of Staphylococcus aureus. The structure of the teichoic acid from Bacillus subtilis was the first to be established in detail the other polymers differ mainly in the nature of the glycosyl substituents. 

Some strains produce glycerol TAs with 2,3-diesterlinkages, e.g. the teichoic acid from Bacillus subtilis var. niger WM, 2> shown below ... 

Recently, the synthesis of l-deoxy-3-O-phosphono-D-glycerol-l-yl-P-D-gluco-pyranoside disodium salt 27 and its L-glycerol-l-yl isomer 31 was described 45). Compound 27 is a repeating unit of TA chains from Bacillus subtilis var. niger WM (formula 3). Both 27 and 31 were obtained mainly to record their l3C-NMR spectra to be further compared with the spectrum of the naturally occurring teichoic acid. Thus, 27 was prepared in a few-step synthesis as shown below ... 

Phosphate-repressible phosphodiesterases, isolated from Bacillus subtilis, have been reported to be responsible for the depolymerization of teichoic acids. ... 

Glaser and Burger studied the biosynthesis of teichoic acids with particulate preparations from Bacillus licheniformis (ATGC 9945) and B. subtilis (NCTG 3610). They found that these preparations catalyze the synthesis of poly(glycerol phosphate) according to the reaction... 

Teichoic acid. A polyribitol phosphate has been extracted from grampositive bacteria and named teichoic acid . Similar compounds extracted from Lactobacillus arabinosus and Bacillus subtilis have side chains containing alanine and glucose. 

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