Components of the cell wall of Clostridium welchii (type A).

1. The cell wall of Clostridium welchii (type A) contains alanine, 2,6-diaminopimelic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, glucosamine, muramic acid, galactosamine, mannosamine, ethanolamine, rhamnose, galactose and phosphorus. 2. Heating with formamide at 150 degrees resolved the wall into a formamide-soluble polysaccharide fraction and a formamide-insoluble mucopeptide fraction. 3. The formamide-soluble fraction contained two components: an electrophoretically neutral polysaccharide made up of galactose, rhamnose, galactosamine and phosphorus and an electrophoretically acidic polymer containing mannosamine, ethanolamine and phosphorus. 4. The formamide-insoluble residue has been digested by lysozyme to give soluble fragments of high molecular weight. 5. All fractions contain an unknown ethyl acetate-extractable substance that can be oxidized by sodium metaperiodate. 6. The amino acid compositions of the fragments produced by lysozyme are compatible with a mucopeptide structure which has cross bridges containing all of the constituent amino acids.