Carbohydrate-containing cell wall polymers of some strains of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus subtilis</Emphasis> 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.