CHEMISTRY OF CELL WALLS 



43 



Corynebacterium diphtheriae by Holdsworth,^^ ^^s subse- 

 quently found to be confined to a number of related groups. 

 Some of the monosaccharides characteristic of various bac- 

 terial groups are presented in Table 17. 



The occurrence of mucopolysaccharides in the walls of 

 some bacteria is supported by the isolation of the oligo- 

 saccharide from Corynebacterium diphtheriae by Holds- 

 worth.^2 Fairly drastic conditions were required for the lib- 

 eration of the oligosaccharide from the cell-wall muco- 



TABLE 17 



Principal Combinations of Monosaccharide Constituents Found in 

 Walls of Gram-Positive Bacteria 



Groups 



Sugars 



Staphylococci 

 Sporosarcina 

 Strep tomyces 



Staphylococci 



Micrococci 



Aerococci 



Bacilli 



Streptomyces 



Streptococci 

 Lactobacilli 

 Propionibacteria 

 Clostridia 



None 



Glucose, galactose, mannose (singly or in com- 

 bination) 



Rhamnose, glucose, galactose, 

 mannose 



(Rhamnose alone or in combination with 

 Rhamnose) 



Corynebacteria 1 Arabinose, glucose, galactose, mannose 

 Mycobacteria \ (in combination with 

 Nocardia J arabinose) 



References 22, 23, 24, 31, 37, 62, 63, 64. 



