Contribution of peptidoglycan to the binding of metal ions by the cell wall ofBacillus subtilis

Abstract

Equilibrium dialysis techniques were utilized in assessing the interaction between the cell walls ofBacillus subtilis and metal ions. The results show that cell wall teichoic acid molecules are not required for wall-metal ion complex formation. The numbers of combining sites for metals on unmodified cell walls were 0.7–0.9 μmol metal bound per mg wall. Thus, it is likely that the metals are combining with identical sites in the cell walls. The geometry of the sites may be responsible for the changes in affinity of the walls for various metals.