N. V. Potekhina

Three New Species of Brevibacteria, Brevibacterium antiquum sp. nov., Brevibacterium aurantiacum sp. nov., and Brevibacterium permense sp. nov.

This work deals with the taxonomic study of orange-pigmented bacteria isolated from permafrost sediments, rice plots, and soils contaminated with wastes from the chemical and salt industries that were assigned to the genus Brevibacterium on the basis of phenotypic characteristics, as well as of some strains described previously as Brevibacterium linens. The study revealed three genomic species, whose members and the type strains of the closest species of Brevibacterium had DNA similarity levels between 24 and 59%. The strains of the genomic species differed from each other and from the known species of Brevibacterium in some physiological and biochemical characteristics, as well as in the sugar and polyol composition of their teichoic acids. The 16S rDNA sequence analysis confirmed the assignment of the environmental isolates to the genus Brevibacterium and showed the phylogenetic distinction of the three genomic species. The results obtained in this study allow three new Brevibacterium species to be described: Brevibacterium antiquum (type strain VKM Ac-2118T = UCM Ac-411T), Brevibacterium aurantiacum (type strain VKM Ac-2111T = NCDO 739T = ATCC 9175T), and Brevibacterium permense (type strain VKM Ac-2280T = UCM Ac-413T).

Teichuronic and Teichulosonic Acids of Actinomycetes

The subject of the present review is the structural diversity and abundance of cell wall teichuronic and teichulosonic acids of representatives of the order Actinomycetales. Recently found teichulosonic acids are a new class of natural glycopolymers with ald-2-ulosonic acid residues: Kdn (3-deoxy-D-glycero-D-galacto-non-2-ulosonic acid) or di-N-acyl derivatives of Pse (5,7-diamino-3,5,7,9-tetradeoxy-L-glycero-L-manno-non-2-ulosonic or pseudaminic acid) as the obligatory component. The structures of teichuronic and teichulosonic acids are presented. Data are summarized on the occurrence of the glycopolymers of different nature in the cell wall of the studied actinomycetes. The biological role of the glycopolymers and their possible taxonomic implication are discussed. The comprehensive tables given in the Supplement show 13C NMR spectroscopic data of teichuronic and teichulosonic acids obtained by the authors.

Phosphate-containing cell wall polymers of bacilli.

Anionic phosphate-containing cell wall polymers of bacilli are represented by teichoic acids and poly(glycosyl 1-phosphates). Different locations of phosphodiester bonds in the main chain of teichoic acids as well as the nature and combination of the constituent structural elements underlie their structural diversity. Currently, the structures of teichoic acids of bacilli can be classified into three types, viz. poly(polyol phosphates) with glycerol or ribitol as the polyol; poly(glycosylpolyol phosphates), mainly glycerol-containing polymers; and poly(acylglycosylglycerol phosphate), in which the components are covalently linked through glycosidic, phosphodiester, and amide bonds. In addition to teichoic acids, poly(glycosyl 1-phosphates) with mono- and disaccharide residues in the repeating units have been detected in cell walls of several Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus strains. The known structures of teichoic acids and poly(glycosyl 1-phosphates) of B. subtilis, B. atrophaeus, B. licheniformis, B. pumilus, B. stearothermophilus, B. coagulans, B. cereus as well as oligomers that link the polymers to peptidoglycan are surveyed. The reported data on the structures of phosphate-containing polymers of different strains of B. subtilis suggest heterogeneity of the species and may be of interest for the taxonomy of bacilli to allow differentiation of closely related organisms according to the “structures and composition of cell wall polymers” criterion

Anionic polymers of the cell wall of Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis VKM B-501T

Teichoic acid and disaccharide-1-phosphate polymer were identified in the cell walls of Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis VKM B-501T. The teichoic acid represents 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) 80% substituted by α-D-glucopyranose residues at O-2 of glycerol. The linear repeating unit of disaccharide-1-phosphate polymer contains the residues of β-D-glucopyranose, N-acetyl-α-D-galactosamine, and phosphate and has the following structure: -6)-β-D-Glcp-(1→3)-α-D-GalpNAc-(1-P-. The structures of two anionic polymers were determined by chemical and NMR-spectroscopic methods. The 1H- and 13C-NMR spectral data on disaccharide-1-phosphate polymer are presented for the first time.

Cell wall teichoic acids of two Brevibacterium strains

Structurally identical teichoic acids were detected in cell walls of two soil isolates assigned to Brevibacterium linens based on phylogenetic data. Both cell walls contain unsubstituted 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) and poly(glycosylglycerol phosphate). Repeating units of the latter—α-D-GlcpNAc-(1→4)-β-D-Galp-(1→1)-Gro—are bound by phosphodiester bonds including OH-3 of galactose and OH-3 of glycerol. Some of the N-acetylglucosamine residues have 4,6-pyruvic acid acetal, amounts of the latter in the two strains being unequal. Species-specificity of the structures of teichoic acids in the genus Brevibacterium is discussed.

Structures of cell wall teichoic acids of Brevibacterium iodinum VKM Ac-2106T

Structures of two cell wall teichoic acids of Brevibacterium iodinum VKM Ac-2106T were studied. The structure of mannitol teichoic acid described earlier was mainly confirmed. This polymer is 1,6-poly(mannitol phosphate) bearing β-D-glucopyranosyl residues at the C-2 of mannitol and pyruvic acid residues at the C-4 and C-5. The absolute configurations of D-mannitol and S-pyruvic acid were found. The following distinctions from the earlier described structure were found: unsubstituted 1,6-poly(mannitol phosphate) residues and residues substituted only by β-D-glucopyranosyl at the C-2 of mannitol but unsubstituted by pyruvic acid are present in the chain. The structure of glycerol teichoic acid present in the cell wall as a minor component (∼7%) is also described. This acid is identified as 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) substituted at the C-2 of glycerol by 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-α-D-galactopyranosyl residues bearing R-pyruvic acid residues at the C-4 and C-6 of galactose. This polymer is for the first time described in the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria.

Anionic polymers of the cell wall of Brevibacterium linens VKM Ac-2159.

Unsubstituted 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) and two sugar-1-phosphate polymers were identified in the cell wall of Brevibacterium linens VKM Ac-2159 by NMR spectroscopy and chemical methods. A monomer of one of the sugar-1-phosphate polymers has the branched repeating unit of the following structure: -4)-[β -D-GlcpNAc-(1→3)]-α-D-Glcp-(1-P-. The repeating unit of another sugar 1 phosphate polymer has a linear structure consisting of alternating β and α-N-acetylglucosamine residues: -4)-β -D-GlcpNAc-(1→6)-α-D-GlcpNAc-(1-P-. Some part of the β-N-acetylglucosaminyl residues bear O-ester-bound succinic acid residues at C-3. The identified sugar-1-phosphate polymers have not been described earlier in cell walls of other bacteria.

Structure of hexasaccharide 1-phosphate polymer from Arthrobacter uratoxydans VKM Ac-1979T cell wall

A hexasaccharide 1-phosphate polymer of original structure and two teichoic acids (TA) belonging to different structural types were found in Arthrobacter uratoxydans VKM Ac-1979T cell wall. The poly(hexasaccharide 1-phosphate) combines features of teichuronic acids and glycosyl 1-phosphate polymers, and its structure has never been reported earlier. Its composition includes residues of α- and β-D-glucuronic acid as well as α-D-galacto-, β-D-gluco-, α-D-mannopyranose, and 6-O-acetylated 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-α-D-glucopyranose. The phosphodiester bond in the polymer joins the glycoside hydroxyl of α-D-glucuronic acid and O6 of α-D-galactopyranose. TA 1 is β-D-glucosylated 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate), and TA 2 is 3,6-linked poly[α-D-glucosyl-(1→2)-glycerol phosphate]. The phosphate-containing polymers were studied by chemical methods and on the basis of one-dimensional 1H-, 13C-, and 31P-NMR spectra, homonuclear two-dimensional 1H/1H COSY, TOCSY, ROESY, and heteronuclear 1H/13C HSQC, HSQC-TOCSY, HMBC, and 1H/31P HMBC experiments. The set and structure of the polymers revealed as well as the cell wall sugars (galactose, glucose, mannose, glucosamine) and glycerol can be used in microbiological practice for taxonomic purposes.

Carbohydrate-Containing Cell Wall Polymers of Some Strains of the Bacillus subtilis Group

A comparative study of the structures of carbohydrate-containing cell wall polymers isolated from the strains of the Bacillus subtilis group was performed by means of chemical and NMR spectroscopic meth ods. Polymers of different structure were revealed, namely, 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphates) with β-glucopyranose in Bacillus subtilis strains VKM B-520, VKM B-723, and VKM B-763 (= VKM B-911); 1,5-poly(ribitol phosphate) with α-glucopyranose in B. subtilis strains VKM B-722 and VKM B-922 (the structure is reported for the first time); and simultaneously two polymers in B. subtilis VKM B-761, 1,5-poly(ribitol phosphate) with β-glucopyranose and the disaccharide 1-phosphate polymer with the following repeating unit: -6)-α-D-Galp-(1-P-4)-gB-D-GlcpNAc-(1-, in which the hydroxyls at C3 and C6 of glucosamine residues are partially O-acetylated (the structure is reported for the first time). Heterogeneity of the B. subtilis group is con firmed by variations in the structure and composition of the cell wall polymers. The cell surface polymers are useful for discrimination of closely related bacilli strains and are cell wall marker components that may be an indispensable element of the Bacillus subtilis group taxonomy along with the genomosystematic methods.

A new polymer of 8,9-Di-O-Glucosylated 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-glycero-D-galacto-nonulosonic acid from a cell wall of Brevibacterium casei ACM Ac-2114T

A polysaccharide containing the residues of 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-glycero-D-galacto-nonulosonic acid (Kdn) was found in the cell wall of the Brevibacterium casei strain ACM Ac-2114T. The polymer structure was elucidated by analyzing one-dimensional spectra of 1H and 13C NMR and bidimentional experiments 1H/1H-COSY, TOCSY, 1H/13C-gHSQC, and 1H/13C-gHMBC. The polymer is built up of the 2 → 4-linked Kdn residues substituted by β-D-Glcp residues at 8- and 9-hydroxyls; such a polymer with disubstituted Kdn residues was found for the first time. A glycosylated teichoic acid of the 1,3-poly(glycerolphosphate) type was also identified among other anionic polymers of cell wall.