Chemistry and Biology of Proteins - F. Haurowitz 1953

Insoluble Proteins (Scleroproteins)
Polyglutamic acid

The insoluble capsular substance of Bacillus anthracis and B. mesentericus is a protein that yields only l-glutamic acid upon Hydrolysis [52]. The Molecular Weight of this protein exceeds 50,000. Its molecule consists of a-peptide chains of glutamic acid linked together by several y-carboxyl bonds [53, 54]. This substance can be extracted from the Bacteria using a mixture of Hydrochloric acid and ethyl alcohol, and then precipitated from the extract with caustic soda [53]. Poly-a-glutamic acid of a similar Structure has been obtained synthetically [55].



Last update: 06/08/2026

Editorial and Educational Adaptation: This material has been compiled based on the primary/original source text. The project team performed an editorial review, corrected technical inaccuracies, structured sections, and adapted the content for an educational format.

What was processed:

  • elimination of formatting defects (OCR errors, structural breaks, corrupted characters);
  • editorial organization of content;
  • standardization of terminology in accordance with academic sources;
  • verification of factual statements against the original source text.

All mentions of the author, publication year, and origin of the primary text have been preserved in accordance with the source.