%0 Journal Article %A Bishop, A. H. %A Douglas, C. W. I. %A Dorr, P. K. %A White, P. J. %T Components of the wall and capsule of Bacillus megaterium NCIB 7581 %D 1993 %J Microbiology, %V 139 %N 11 %P 2723-2730 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-139-11-2723 %I Microbiology Society, %X Walls of Bacillus megaterium NCIB 7581 consisted principally of peptidoglycan (55%, w/w) and a single acidic carbohydrate accessory polymer (about 30%, w/w), which was isolated from lysozyme-digests of the walls. Glucose and N-acetylglucosamine partly made up this polymer, but phosphate and uronic or aminouronic acids were absent from the polymer and the wall. Protein (about 10%, w/w) was present in the walls, even though incubation with trypsin was a step in their isolation. When released into solution, this protein gave a single band on gel-electrophoresis and could be digested by trypsin. The remainder of the material isolated as walls was poly β-hydroxybutyrate, which represented cytoplasmic contamination. Capsules were formed best by bacteria on solid media containing amino acids, at relatively low growth temperatures. The isolated capsular material was polypeptide. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-139-11-2723