Teichoic Acids of the Cell Wall of Nocardiopsis listeri, Nocardiopsis lucentensis, and Nocardiopsis tregalosei

G. M. Streshinskaya^1*, E. M. Tul'skaya¹, A. S. Shashkov², L. I. Evtushenko³, V. V. Taran³, and I. B. Naumova¹

¹School of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119899 Russia; fax: (095) 939-4309

²Zelinskii Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii pr. 47, Moscow, 117913 Russia; fax: (095) 135-5328

³Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region, 142292 Russia; fax: (095) 923-3602

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received July 22, 1997

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The structures of teichoic acids of three Nocardiopsis species were established. The cell wall of Nocardiopsis listeri VKM Ac-1881T contains two teichoic acids (TA). TA1 is 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) with 50% glycerol phosphate residues substituted by alpha-N-acetylglucosamine in the C-2 position. TA2 is 1,5-poly(ribitol phosphate) with each ribitol phosphate unit carrying pyruvate acetal groups in the 2 and 4 positions. The cell wall of Nocardiopsis lucentensis VKM Ac-1963T contains only one teichoic acid of the same structure as TA1 of N. listeri. The teichoic acid of the Nocardiopsis tregalosei VKM Ac-942 is a 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) substituted (60%) by beta-glucopyranosyl residues. Structures of polymers were studied by chemical and NMR spectroscopy methods. The presented results confirm the species-specificity of teichoic acids from Nocardiopsis genus.

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KEY WORDS: cell wall, teichoic acid, actinomycetes, Nocardiopsis

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