Amino acid sequence of the murein and taxonomy of the genera Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Leuconostoc and Pediococcus

A survey of the distribution of the various murein (peptidoglycan) types within the lactobacilli and related organisms is given. While all the species of some groups (thermobacteria, pediococci) contain only one type of murein, the species of other groups (beta-bacteria, bifidobacteria, leuconostoc) contain several types. The most common type, which occurs at least in a few species of most of the groups, is the Lys-Asp in which the crosslinkage of the peptide subunits is mediated by asparagine.