Title:  Teichoic Acids 
Literature References:  Major components of walls and membranes of a number of bacteria, accounting for 20 to 60% of the dry weight of cell walls.  Teichoic acids vary considerably in structure but are all rich in phosphodiester linkages.  Depending on their location, they can be divided into two classes:  membrane and cell-wall teichoic acids.  Reviews:  Baddiley, Endeavour 23, 33 (1964); idem, Proc. Roy. Soc. London 170B, 331 (1968); idem, Acc. Chem. Res. 3, 98 (1970); M. Duckworth in Surface Carbohydrates of the Procaryotic Cell, I. W. Sutherland, Ed. (Academic Press, London, 1977) pp 177-208. 
  
Derivative Type:  Membrane teichoic acids  
Literature References:  Contain polyglycerol phosphate chains linking positions 1 and 3 on adjacent glycerol units through the phosphodiesters, with glycosyl substituents and alanine residues on some or all of the 2 positions.  Structural studies:  Kelemen, Baddiley, Biochem. J. 80, 246 (1961).  Biosynthetic studies:  Burger, Glaser, J. Biol. Chem. 239, 3168, 3187 (1964); 241, 494 (1966).  Synthesis of a membrane teichoic acid fragment of Staphylococcus aureus:  J. Oltvoort et al., Rec. Trav. Chim. 101, 87 (1982). 
  
Derivative Type:  Wall teichoic acids  
Literature References:  Have greater structural diversity and include also polyribitol phosphate chains linking positions 1 and 5 on adjacent ribitol residues.  Polymers may contain 6 to 20 repeating units.  Structural studies:  Armstrong et al., Biochem. J. 76, 610 (1960); Baddiley, ibid. 85, 49 (1962).  Biosynthetic studies:  Glaser, J. Biol. Chem. 239, 3178 (1964).  Molecular arrangement in cell wall of Staphylococcus lactis:  Archibald et al., Nature New Biol. 241, 29 (1973). 
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