Structure of the Cell Wall of Staphylococcus Aureus, Strain Copenhagen. IV. The Teichoic Acid-Glycopeptide Complex

A teichoic acid-glycopeptide complex has been obtained from the cell wall of Staphylococcus aureus after enzymatic lysis of the walls with either of two acetylmuramidases. This complex was fractionated into materials containing a glycopeptide component of varying size linked to teichoic acid. Most of the glycopeptide was removed by hydrolysis of the complexes with an acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase. After this treatment, a native teichoic acid with a weight-average molecular weight of about 20,000 and a number-average molecular weight of 12,000-16,000 was obtained. These data suggest that the largest molecules of the teichoic acid contain forty to fifty repeating units and that some smaller molecules also exist in the preparation. Chemical and physical analyses of native teichoic acid and various teichoic acid-glycopeptide complexes are presented.