Studies on the Membranes of Bacilli

Ghosts of a Bacillus sp. isolated from a culture of Bacillus megaterium KM were prepared by the lysozyme technique and found to be free of several typical cytoplasmic and cell wall components. All of the enzymes responsible for the synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol from phosphatidic acid were found to be present in the ghosts. The biosynthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol was shown to proceed via CDP-diglyceride as a common intermediate. When synthesized in vitro this intermediate, as well as the end products, were found to be associated with the ghosts. In studies of the properties of the individual enzymes, it was found that all of the enzymatic activities were stimulated by addition of Mg++ and a nonionic detergent, and had similar pH optima.