Topic summary
Teichoic acid
Teichoic acids (cf.Greek τεῖχος, teīkhos, "wall", to be specific a fortification wall, as opposed to τοῖχος, toīkhos, a regular wall) are bacterialcopolymers of glycerol phosphate or ribitol phosphate and carbohydrates linked via phosphodiester bonds.
Teichoic acids are found within the cell wall of most Gram-positive bacteria such as species in the generaStaphylococcus, Streptococcus, Bacillus, Clostridium, Corynebacterium, and Listeria, and appear to extend to the surface of the peptidoglycan layer. They can be covalently linked to N-acetylmuramic acid or a terminal D-alanine in the tetrapeptide crosslinkage between N-acetylmuramic acid units of the peptidoglycan layer, or they can be anchored in the cytoplasmic membrane with a lipid anchor.
Teichoic acids that are anchored to the lipid membrane are referred to as lipoteichoic acids (LTAs), whereas teichoic acids that are covalently bound to peptidoglycan are referred to as wall teichoic acids (WTA).