Characterization of cell wall polymers secreted into the growth medium of lysis-defective pneumococci during treatment with penicillin and other inhibitors of cell wall synthesis.

Autolysin-defective pneumococci secrete large quantities of choline-containing cell wall polymers into the growth medium during treatment with inhibitors of peptidoglycan synthesis. The secreted polymers were separated into three fractions by a combination of gel filtration on agarose and sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. Fraction I had a high apparent molecular size and contained the Forssman antigen in complex with material exhibiting properties of cell wall teichoic acid. Choline-containing polymers of as yet uncharacterized structure were present in both fractions IIA and IIB, and fraction IIA also contained peptidoglycan components.