iuoc'iii;mu"al At"ri\ ri'ii:s 



161 



Tablk 36 

 Amino aci(l.s foiiiid in hi/droli/ziitcs of (iclinonn/ccle cell iralla* (Solilcr, Koiiiaiio, and .\"ii-kers(ju) 



* + + + + = indicates large, intensely colored spot on chromatogram ; + + + = indicates a fairly 

 intense spot; ++ = asmall definite spot; + = a faint spot; ± = (l()ui)tful; = no spot was found, 

 amino acid absent. 



In Micromonospora the carbohydrate con- 

 tent was somewhat lower, about IG per cent. 

 On the basis of the percentages of various 

 carbohydrate components present, the cell 

 walls of actinomycetes were found to re- 

 semble most closely those of corynebacteria. 

 The carbohydrate composition of the cell 

 walls of .V. rubra, X. polijchromogencs, and 

 A', asteroides was found to be markedly simi- 

 lar. The major carbohydrate component was 

 a pentose, which comprised about 10 to 12 

 per cent of the cell wall. A small amount of 

 hexosamine was found, representing 2.5 to 

 o per cent of the cell wall. Varying amounts 

 of hexose were present. The total reducing 

 sugar values vary from 18 to 20 per cent. 

 Both the pentose and the hexose have been 

 tentatively identified in all three organisms 

 l\v paper chromatography as galactose and 

 aral)inose. The possibility that the pentose 

 might be due to nucleic acid, indicating the 

 presence of intracellular contamination of 

 the cell wall preparation, was considered. 

 However, an absorption spectrum on the 

 hydrolysate failed to show a peak at about 



Table 37 



Carbo/i 1/(1 rale composition of actinomyceie 

 cell walls (Sohler) 



Organism 



Total reduc- Pen- Hexosa- 

 ing sugar*, % tose, % mine, % 



S. fradiae 3535 22.0 19.8 



S. griseus 3i92 21.6 19.9 



S. hobiliae 3310 18.8 12.0 



S. lave ndulae 3il6 13.2 1.5 3.0 



S. roseochromogenes 3816 27.2 1.2 14. S 



.V. rubra 3639 18.1 10.5 2.6 



.V. asteroides 3573 17.6 12.2 2.6 



A', polychromogenes 3409 23.6 10.3 3.1 



Micronionospora .sp. 3452 15.9 1.8 14.8 



* Determined as glucose. 



260 m/i, which is chai-act eristic of purines 

 and pyrimidines present in nucleic acid. The 

 pentose was therefore not due to intracellu- 

 lar contamination (Tables 38 and 39). 



Hoare and Work found among the chemi- 

 cal constituents of actinomycetes the LL 

 isomer of diaminopimelic acid (DAP) in 

 the hydrolyzates of whole streptomyces cells, 

 with small amounts of the meso isomer. The 

 latter occurred in nocardia cells and in mvco- 



