- Volume 73, Issue 3, 1972

Teichoic acids form part of the bacteriophage receptor sites in the walls of several Gram-positive bacteria (Young, 1967; Coyette & Ghuysen, 1968; Chatterjee, 1969). Concanavalin A interacts with teichoic acids that possess α-linked glucosyl or N-acetyl-glucosaminyl substituents (Archibald & Coapes, 1971; Reeder & Ekstedt, 1971) and so might be expected to prevent access of bacteriophages to their receptor sites in walls which contain such teichoic acids. We have examined the influence of Concanavalin A on the binding of bacteriophage K (Ralston, Baer, Lieberman & Kreuger, 1957) to Staphylococcus aureus strains 3528, A1 and H, the walls of which contain exclusively α, exclusively β- and predominantly β-, with some α-, N-acetyl-glucosaminyl substituents respectively (Baddiley, Buchanan, Martin & RajBhandary, 1962; Nathenson & Strominger, 1962; Davison, Baddiley, Hofstad, Losnegard & Oeding, 1964). The action of Concanavalin A on the binding of bacteriophage SP-50 (Foldes & Trautner, 1964) to Bacillus subtilis strains 3610 and w-23, the wall teichoic acids of which contain respectively α- and β-linked glucosyl substituents (Chin, Burger & Glaser, 1966; Doyle & Birdsell, 1972) has also been studied. Additionally we have studied the effect of Concanavalin A on the infection of B. subtilis strains W-23 and 3610 by bacteriophage SP-50 and of S. aureus strains 3528 and H by the typing bacteriophages 53 and 52A respectively.

Glycerol teichoic acids have been found associated with the cytoplasmic membrane of all of the Gram-positive bacteria examined and it is believed that, unlike wall teichoic acids which are absent from some organisms, these membrane teichoic acids are characteristically present in all species (for reviews see Archibald, Baddiley & Blumsom, 1968; Baddiley, 1970, 1972). Wall teichoic acid is attached to the peptidoglycan of the wall through its terminal phosphate residue, but although it has been known for some time that membrane teichoic acid is associated with the outer surface of the membrane (Hay, Wicken & Baddiley, 1963; Shockman & Slade, 1964) the nature of this association has only recently been examined.