Lactobacillus arabinosus, teichoic acid from

Alanine isolated by mild alkaline hydrolysis from the teichoic acid of Lactobacillus arabinosus has the d configuration, as determined with D-amino acid oxidase. ... 

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. 

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. 

Extracts prepared from whole cells of all such organisms contained a glyceritol phosphate polymer, even when no such polymer was present in the walls. This finding is in accordance with a previous report by Mitchell and Moyle that the cell envelope and the small particle fraction from Staphylococcus aureus contain a glyceritol phosphate. This observation could explain why Lactobacillus arabinosus contains cytidine glyceritol pyrophosphate (and not the corresponding teichoic acid) in the cell wall. 

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