Question

Part a - bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan is a polymer of millions of n-acetylglucosamine (nag) and n-acetylmuramic acid (nam) sugars based on glucose molecules linked together in long chains cross-braced with four amino acids that link individual polymer chains together in a chain-link fence pattern. layers of cross-braced nag and nam sheets are stacked vertically and held together by proteins with lipid anchors attached to the cell's cytoplasmic membrane to form a scaffold of sugars and proteins that is able to hold the bacterial cell's shape, even in response to extreme osmotic pressures. how would you expect a microbiology student to be able to describe the composition of peptidoglycan? what is the composition of the peptidoglycan layers found in the cell wall of bacteria?

Answer 1

I believe the appropriate answer is, short amino acid chains, NAG, NAM, and some lipid proteins.
Peptidoglycan is also known as Murein, it is a polymer consisting of sugars and amino acids that form a mesh-like layer outside the plasma membrane of most bacteria, forming the cell wall. The sugar component consist of alternating residues of β-(1,4) linked N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) and N-acetylmuramic acid (NAM),