Cadaverine covalently linked to a peptidoglycan is an essential constituent of the peptidoglycan necessary for the normal growth in Selenomonas ruminantium.

Cadaverine links covalently to the D-glutamic acid residue of the peptidoglycan in Selenomonas ruminantium, a strictly anaerobic Gram-negative bacterium (Kamio, Y., Itoh, Y., and Terawaki, Y. (1981) J. Bacteriol. 146, 49-53). This report clarifies a physiological function of cadaverine in this organism by using DL-alpha-difluoromethyllysine, which had previously been shown to be a selective irreversible inhibitor of lysine decarboxylase of Mycoplasma dispar (Pösö, H., MaCann, P.P., Tanskanen, R., Bey, P., and Sjoerdsma, A. (1984) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 125, 205-210). DL-alpha-Difluoromethyllysine is now shown to be a potent and irreversible inhibitor of lysine decarboxylase of S. ruminantium in vitro; however, it did not inhibit the transfer of cadaverine to the alpha-carboxyl group of the D-glutamic acid residue of the peptidoglycan. DL-alpha-Difluoromethyllysine at 5 mM markedly inhibited the growth of the bacterium and caused rapid cell lysis. Immediately before the cell lysis, almost all cells became swollen, and such cells showed a loosened envelope structure when studied by electron microscopy. The peptidoglycan prepared from the DL-alpha-difluoromethyllysine-treated cells did not have covalently linked cadaverine. The growth inhibition by DL-alpha-difluoromethyllysine was completely reversed by adding cadaverine (1 mM) to the medium. Furthermore, the exogenous cadaverine was exclusively incorporated into the peptidoglycan in the presence of DL-alpha-difluoromethyllysine (5 mM), and a normal peptidoglycan was synthesized. The cell lysis and the formation of an abnormal cell structure were completely prevented by cadaverine added to the medium. We conclude that cadaverine covalently linked to the peptidoglycan in S. ruminantium is an essential constituent of the peptidoglycan and is required for cell surface integrity and the normal growth of S. ruminantium.