The structure of secondary cell wall polymers:: how Gram-positive bacteria stick their cell walls together

The cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria has been a subject of detailed chemical study over the past five decades. Outside the cytoplasmic membrane of these organisms the fundamental polymer is pepticloglycan (PG), which is responsible for the maintenance of cell shape and osmotic stability. In addition, typical essential cell wall polymers such as teichoic or teichuronic acids are linked to some of the pepticloglycan chains. In this review these compounds are considered as 'classical' cell wall polymers. In the course of recent investigations of bacterial cell surface layers (S-layers) a different class of 'non-classical' secondary cell wall polymers (SCWPs) has been identified, which is involved in anchoring of S-layers to the bacterial cell surface. Comparative analyses have shown considerable differences in chemical composition, overall structure and charge behaviour of these SCWPs. This review discusses the progress that has been made in understanding the structural principles of SCWPs, which may have useful applications in S-layer-based 'supramolecular construction kits' in nanobiotechnology.