Choline in the cell wall of a bacterium: novel type of polymer-linked choline in Pneumococcus.

Radioactive choline is incorporated by pneumococcus (strain R36A) into a polymeric substance from which it can be quantitatively recovered as free choline, after hydrolysis by strong acid. The polymeric substance is insoluble in lipid solvents and can be degraded by periodate. Fractionation studies and chemical analyses suggest that choline is linked to a polysaccharide component of pneumococcal cell wall.