Biochemistry - The Chemical Reactions of Living Cells, Volume 1 - D. Metzler 1980

Membranes and Cell Walls
Structure of Bacterial Cell Walls
Teichoic Acids

Teichoic acids are associated with the peptidoglycan layer and The Cell wall of Gram-positive Bacteria, accounting for up to 50% of the dry weight of The Cell walls in some strains [110, 111]. Teichoic acids are high-molecular-weight polymers, the general Structure of which is shown below.

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In cell walls, teichoic acids are covalently linked via phosphodiester bonds to the muramic acid residues of peptidoglycan. Two possible arrangement types have been proposed [412]. According to one model, the peptidoglycan chains are oriented perpendicularly to the outer ends of the teichoic acid chains. In this model, the cell wall consists of a 10 nm-thick peptidoglycan layer, outside of which lies a 12 nm-thick layer of teichoic acids. According to another hypothesis, the peptidoglycan chains are oriented parallel to The surface of the bacterial cell. With a uniform distribution of teichoic acid-peptidoglycan linkages, teichoic acid becomes intimately intertwined throughout the entire thickness of the cell wall.

Other teichoic acids are covalently linked to Glycolipids (for example, an oligosaccharide glycosidically attached to a diglyceride) that are constituents of The Plasma Membrane [111].