Cell wall composition of Micromonospora olivoasterospora, Micromonospora sagamiensis, and related organisms.

Cell walls of 19 Micromonospora species were analyzed for their components. All the cell walls had xylose and arabinose, but the presence of glucose, galactose, mannose, or rhamnose depended on the strain. Amino acids present in the walls consisted of glycine, glutamic acid, diaminopimelic acid, and alanine, in a molar ratio of approximately 1:1:1:0.6--0.8. 3-Hydroxydiaminopimelic acid, together with meso-diaminopimelic acid, was found in many species and was isolated from Micromonospora olivoasterospora to compare the color constant in an amino acid analyzer with that of meso-diaminopimelic acid. The cell walls of Micromonospora sagamiensis and M. olivoasterospora contained only D-alanine and not L-alanine. All species tested except Micromonospora globosa contained glycolate in an almost equimolar ratio to diaminopimelic acid in their cell walls. Among 45 strains of 12 genera examined, Actinoplanes, Ampullariella, Amorphosporangium, and Dactylosporangium species had a significant amount of glycolate in the whole cells. Based on these results, the primary structure of the peptidoglycan of Micromonospora is discussed.