Murein synthesis and identification of cell wall precursors of temperature-sensitive lysis mutants of Escherichia coli.

A group of temperature-sensitive lysis mutants of Escherichia coli K-12 was studied. Mutants impaired in the synthesis of uridine diphosphate-N-acetylmuramyl (UDP-MurNAc)-pentapeptide or in the synthesis of murein amino acids were found. Their rate of murein synthesis at the restrictive temperature was decreased. A large number of mutants did not differ from the parent strain with respect to the rate of murein synthesis and the precursor pattern. The behavior of these mutants is discussed. It was impossible to accumulate UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide in E. coli by the antibiotics penicillin and vancomycin. The hypothesis is put forward that the amount of this murein precursor is regulated by feedback inhibition.