Structure and Cell Membrane-Binding Properties of Bacterial Lipoteichoic Acids and their Possible Role in Adhesion of Streptococci to Eukaryotic Cells

Abstract

The name teichoic acid first denoted a group of polyolphosphate-containing polymers isolated either from the cell walls of gram-positive bacteria or from the intracellular contents of disrupted organisms (Armstrong et al., 1958). Lipoteichoic acids are distinguished from the earlier known cell wall teichoic acids on the basis of their struture. Teichoic acids are either glycosylated ribitol or glycerol phosphate polymers usually bearing D-alanyl ester substituents on hydroxyl groups and linked covalently to peptidoglycan (Archibald, 1974). Extension of the term to cover all bacterial cell wall and capsular polymers that contain glycerol or ribitol phosphate residues has been suggested (Baddiley, 1972) and results in a considerable structural diversity for this class of microbial component. Teichoic acids do not appear as constituents of all gram-positive bacteria and their presence is often dependent on culturing conditions— there are now several examples known of organisms grown under conditions of phosphate limitation replacing wall teichoic acid with acidic polysaccharides (Ellwood and Tempest, 1972). Lipoteichoic acids occur in a much wider range of gram-positive bacteria (Archibald, 1974; Knox and Wicken, 1973; Wicken and Knox, 1975a) and are much less subject to replacement by changed culturing conditions. Lipoteichoic acids are always of the glycerol phosphate polymer type covalently linked to a lipid moiety.