Abstract

Radioactive D-methionine is incorporated into the phenol-insoluble cell wall fraction of Alcaligenes fecalis. Incorporation occurs in the presence of chloramphenicol and of large amounts of L-methionine, unlike incorporation into other cell fractions. The incorporations of D-methionine into the cell wall increases with increasing medium concentration to a maximum at the concentration which also induces spheroplasts. Incorporation ceases when induction has taken place. The time course of incorporation shows that it is limited by some process other than synthesis of new cell material. The data have been taken as evidence that incorporation of D-methionine into the phenol-insoluble cell wall fraction is responsible for spheroplast induction. On the basis of the evidence, the hypothesis is put forward for the role of a “primer” molecule in cell wall synthesis. The general implications of such a primer system are discussed.

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