The cell wall teichoic acids of streptomycetes from the "Streptomyces cyaneus" cluster

Abstract

The cell wall anionic polymers of the 13 species of the "Streptomyces cyaneus" cluster have a similar structure and contain beta-glucosylated 1,5-poly(ribitol phosphate) and 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate). In the degree of glucosylation of the ribitol phosphate units of their teichoic acids, the cluster members can be divided into two groups. The streptomycetes of the first group (S. afghaniensis, S. janthinus, S. purpurascens, S. roseoviolaceus, and S. violatus) are characterized by a very similar structure of their cell walls, completely glucosylated 1,5-poly(ribitol phosphate) chains, and a high degree of DNA homology (67-88%). The cell wall teichoic acids of the second group (S. azureus, S. bellus, S. caelestis, S. coeruleorubidus, S. curacoi, and S. violarus) differ in the degree of beta-glucosylation of their 1,5-poly(ribitol phosphate) chains and have a lower level of DNA homology (54-76%). Two streptomycetes of the cluster (S. cyaneus and S. hawaiiensis) are genetically distant from the other cluster members but have the same composition and structure of the cell wall teichoic acids as the second-group streptomycetes. The data obtained confirm the genetic relatedness of the "S. cyaneus" cluster members and suggest that the structure of the cell wall teichoic acids may serve as one of the taxonomic criteria of the species-level status of streptomycetes.