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As in other organisms, the bacterial cell wall provides structural integrity to the cell. In prokaryotes, the primary function of the cell wall is to protect the cell from internal turgor pressure caused by the much higher concentrations of proteins and other molecules inside the cell compared to its external environment.
A plant cell wall was first observed and named (simply as a "wall") by Robert Hooke in 1665. [3] However, "the dead excrusion product of the living protoplast" was forgotten, for almost three centuries, being the subject of scientific interest mainly as a resource for industrial processing or in relation to animal or human health.
The bacterial cell wall differs from that of all other organisms by the presence of peptidoglycan which is located immediately outside of the cell membrane. Peptidoglycan is made up of a polysaccharide backbone consisting of alternating N-Acetylmuramic acid (NAM) and N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) residues in equal amounts.
In many archaeal species the S-layer is the only cell wall component and, therefore, is important for mechanical and osmotic stabilization. The S-layer is considered to be porous, which contributes to many of its functions. [10] Additional functions associated with S-layers include: protection against bacteriophages, Bdellovibrios, and phagocytosis
The cell wall acts to protect the cell mechanically and chemically from its environment, and is an additional layer of protection to the cell membrane. Different types of cell have cell walls made up of different materials; plant cell walls are primarily made up of cellulose , fungi cell walls are made up of chitin and bacteria cell walls are ...
The glycocalyx (pl.: glycocalyces or glycocalyxes), also known as the pericellular matrix and cell coat, is a layer of glycoproteins and glycolipids which surround the cell membranes of bacteria, epithelial cells, and other cells. [1] Animal epithelial cells have a fuzz-like coating on the external surface of their plasma membranes.
Peptidoglycan. The peptidoglycan layer within the bacterial cell wall is a crystal lattice structure formed from linear chains of two alternating amino sugars, namely N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc or NAG) and N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc or NAM).
Double-stranded DNA phage lysins tend to lie within the 25 to 40 kDa range in terms of size. A notable exception is the streptococcal PlyC endolysin, which is 114 kDa. PlyC is not only the biggest and most potent lysin, but also structurally unique since it is composed of two different gene products, PlyCA and PlyCB, with a ratio of eight PlyCB subunits for each PlyCA in its active conformation.