Structural modifications in the peptidoglycan of Escherichia coli associated with changes in the state of growth of the culture.

By determining the composition in muropeptides of the murein of a number of strains of Escherichia coli, purified from cells at various states of growth, the sacculus was found to be considerably modified when cells stop active growth. Murein from resting cells becomes hypercross-linked and richer in covalently bound lipoprotein, whereas the mean length of the glycan chains is considerably reduced. The alteration of the sacculus occurs progressively during the transitions from active growth to stationary phase and vice versa.