MURAMIC ACID IN THE CELL-WALLS OF PROCHLORON

Muramic acid has been detected in Prochloron with the aid of two different techniques. It was assayed by cleaving D-lactate from muramic acid and then reducing NAD with D-lactate dehydrogenase and measuring the NADH with bacterial luciferase. Gas-liquid chromatography of trimethylsilyl derivatives of cell extracts confirmed that muramic acid was present in about the quantity given by the D-lactate assay. The amount of muramic acid present was 1.7±0.2 μg/mg dry weight or 1.3fg/μm2 of cell surface. This suggests that the thickness of the peptidoglycan layer in Prochloron is similar to that in blue-green algae. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.