Abstract
The multilayered cell wall of the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans was studied by the freezeetching technique. A characteristic fracture face in the outer cell wall was demonstrated which is densely packed with particles of a diameter of 60–75 Å. This particle layer is comparable with layers which have been described in many cell walls of Gram-negative prokaryotes.
The outer membrane of the cell wall was solubilised by extraction with phenol/water or sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). In the SDS-extract 31 bands were separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, among them 3–5 major proteins with molecular weights of approximately 60, 40, and 10 kdaltons, respectively. Several polypeptides of the Anacystis cell wall were comparable in their mobility with polypeptides extracted from cell walls of different Gramnegative bacteria. The analysis of the SDS-unsoluble electron dense layer (sacculi) revealed the typical components of peptidoglycan diaminopimelic acid, muramic acid, glutamic acid, glucosamine and alamine in the molar ratio of 1.0:0.9:1.1:1.5:1.9. In addition, other amino acids (molar ratio from 0.05–0.36), mannosamine (molar ratio 0.54), and lipopolysaccharide components were detected in low concentration.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- SDS:
-
sodium dodecyl sulfate
- EDTA:
-
ethylene diamine tetraacetate
References
Allen, M. M.: Ultrastructure of the cell wall and cell division of unicellular blue-green algae. J. Bact. 96, 842–852 (1968)
Braun, V., Rehn, K.: Chemical characterization, spatial distribution and function of a lipoprotein (mureinlipoprotein) of the E. coli cell wall. Europ. J. Biochem. 10, 426–438 (1969)
De Petris, S.: Ultrastructure of the cell wall of Escherichia coli and chemical nature of its constituent layers. J. Ultrastruct. Res. 19, 45–83 (1967)
Drews, G., Meyer, H.: Untersuchungen zum chemischen Aufbau der Zellwände von Anacystis nidulans und Chlorogloea fritschii. Arch. Mikrobiol. 48, 259–267 (1964)
Folch, J., Lees, M., Sloane Stanley, G. H.: A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipides from animal tissues. J. biol. Chem. 226, 497–505 (1957)
Gilleland, H. E., Stinnett, J. D., Roth, I. L., Eagon, R. G.: Freezeetch study of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Localization within the cell wall of an Ethylenediaminetetraacetate-extractable component. J. Bact. 113, 417–432 (1973)
Golecki, J. R., Drews, G.: Zur Struktur der Blaualgen-Zellwand. Gefrierätzuntersuchungen an normalen und extrahierten Zellwänden von Anabaena variabilis. Cytobiologie 8, 213–227 (1974)
Golecki, J. R.: Zur Feinstruktur der Zellwand bei einigen Cyanophyceen. Abl. Bakt., I. Abt. Orig. A 228, 189–192 (1974)
Golecki, J. R., Oelze, J.: Quantitative determination of cytoplasmic membrane invaginations in phototrophically growing Rhodospirillum rubrum. A freeze-etch study. J. gen. Microbiol. 88, 253–258 (1975)
Van Gool, A. P., Nanninga, N.: Fracture faces in the cell envelope of Escherichia coli. J. Bact. 108, 474–481 (1971)
Höcht, H., Martin, H. H., Kandler, O.: Zur Kenntnis der chemischen Zusammensetzung der Zellwand der Blaualgen. Z. Pflanzenphysiol. 53, 39–57 (1965)
Hoshino, O., Zehavi, U., Sinay, P., Jeanloz, R. W.: The isolation and structure identification of a disaccharide containing mannomuramic acid from Micrococcus lysodeikticus cell wall. J. biol. Chem. 247, 381–390 (1972)
Inouye, M., Shaw, J., Shen, C.: The assembly of a structural lipoprotein in the envelope of Escherichia coli. J. biol. Chem. 247, 8154–8159 (1972)
Jüttner, F., Victor, H., Metzner, H.: Massenanzucht phototropher Organismen in einer automatischen Kulturanlage. Arch. Mikrobiol. 77, 275–280 (1971)
Katz, A.: Untersuchungen zur Struktur und den biologischen Eigenschaften des Lipopolysaccharids von Anacystis nidulans. Thesis, Freiburg (1975)
Katz, A., Weckesser, J., Drews, G., Mayer, H.: Chemical and biological studies on the lipopolysaccharide (O-Antigen) of Anacystis nidulans. Arch. Microbiol. 113, 247–256 (1977)
Kellenberger, E., Ryter, A., Sechaud, J.: Electronmicroscope study of DNA-containing plasm. J. biophys. biochem. Cytol. 4, 671–683 (1958)
Kratz, W. A., Myers, J.: Nutrition and growth of several blue-green algae. Amer. J. Bot. 42, 282–287 (1955)
Laemmli, U. K.: Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature (Lond.) 227, 680–685 (1970)
Lopez, R. M. Y., Siekevitz, P.: SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of membrane proteins: Effect of phospholipides. Analyt. Biochem. 53, 594–602 (1973)
Luft, J. H.: Improvements in epoxy resin embedding methods. J. biophys. biochem. Cytol. 9, 409–414 (1961)
Martin, H. H., Heilmann, H. D., Preusser, H. J.: State of the rigidlayer in cell walls of some Gram-negative bacteria. Arch. Microbiol. 83, 332–346 (1972)
Merkenschlager, M., Schlossmann, K., Kurz, W.: Ein mechanischer Zellhomogenisator und seine Anwendbarkeit auf biologische Probleme. Biochem. Z. 329, 332–340 (1957)
Moor, H., Mühlethaler, K.: Fine structure in frozen etched yeast cells. J. Cell Biol. 17, 609–628 (1963)
Reynolds, E. S.: The use of lead citrate at high pH as an electronopaque stain in electron microscopy. J. Cell Biol. 17, 208–212 (1963)
Roberts, N. A., Gray, G. W., Wilkinson, S. G.: The bactericidal action of ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid on Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Microbios 7–8, 189–208 (1970)
Rogers, S. W., Gilleland, H. E., Eagon, R. G.: Characterization of a protein-lipopolysaccharide complex released from cell walls of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid. Canad. J. Microbiol. 15, 743–748 (1969)
Rosenbusch, J. P.: Characterization of the major envelope protein from Escherichia coli. Regular arrangement on the peptidoglycan and unusual dodecyl sulfate binding. J. biol. Chem. 249, 8019–8029 (1974)
Schnaitman, C. A.: Protein composition of the cell wall and cytoplasmic membranes of Escherichia coli. J. Bact. 104, 890–901 (1970a)
Schnaitman, C. A.: Comparison of the envelope protein compositions of several Gram-negative bacteria. J. Bact. 104, 1404–1405 (1970b)
Smit, J., Kamio, Y., Nikaido, H.: Outer membrane of Salmonella typhimurium: Chemical analysis and freeze-fracture studies with lipopolysaccharide mutants. J. Bact. 124, 942–958 (1975)
Stinnetl, J. D., Gilleland, H. E., Eagon, R. G.: Proteins released from cell envelopes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on exposure to Ethylenediaminetetra-acetate: Comparison with Dimethylformamide-extractable proteins. J. Bact. 114, 399–407 (1973)
Watson, M. L.: Staining of tissue sections for electron microscopy with heavy metals. J. biophys. biocchem. Cytol. 4, 475–478 (1958)
Weckesser, J., Drews, G., Fromme, I.: Chemical analysis of and degradation on the cell wall lipopolysaccharide of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata. J. Bact. 109, 1106–1113 (1972)
Weise, G., Drews, G., Jann, B., Jann, K.: Identification and analysis of a lipopolysaccharide in cell walls of the blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans. Arch. Mikrobiol. 71, 89–98 (1970)
Westphal, O., Lüderitz, O., Bister, F.: Über die Extraktion von Bakterien mit Phenol/Wasser. Z. Naturforsch. 76, 148–155 (1952)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Golecki, J.R. Studies on ultrastructure and composition of cell walls of the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans . Arch. Microbiol. 114, 35–41 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429627
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429627