@article{mbs:/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-143-9-2953, author = "Wecke, Jörg and Madela, Kazimierz and Fischer, Werner", title = "The absence of D-alanine from lipoteichoic acid and wall teichoic acid alters surface charge, enhances autolysis and increases susceptibility to methicillin in Bacillus subtilis", journal= "Microbiology", year = "1997", volume = "143", number = "9", pages = "2953-2960", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-143-9-2953", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-143-9-2953", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "1465-2080", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "autolysis", keywords = "methicillin", keywords = "wall teichoic acid", keywords = "Bacillus subtilis", keywords = "lipoteichoic acid", abstract = "Summary: In Bacillus subtilis the physiological consequences of depriving lipoteichoic acid and wall teichoic acid of D-alanine ester were analysed using insertional inactivation of the genes of the dlt operon. Mutant strains which lacked positively charged D-alanine ester in teichoic acids bound more positively charged cytochrome C than other strains. These mutant strains also showed enhanced autolysis and a higher susceptibility to methicillin, which was expressed as accelerated wall lysis, a faster loss of viability and a slower recovery in the postantibiotic phase. The effects of methicillin could be suppressed by simultaneous addition of magnesium ions at low concentrations. The degradation of whole bacteria by bone-marrow-derived macrophages was not influenced by the surface charge and alanylation of the teichoic acids had no protective effect.", }