Relationship of the Major Constituents of the <i>Neurospora crassa</i> Cell Wall to Wild-Type and Colonial Morphology

Abstract

Mahadevan, P. R. (The Rockefeller Institute, New York, N.Y.), and E. L. Tatum. Relationship of the major constituents of the Neurospora crassa cell wall to wild-type and colonial morphology. J. Bacteriol. 90:1073-1081. 1965.-The relationship of cell wall to morphology in Neurospora crassa was studied by correlating the levels of structural polymers of the cell wall with wild-type and colonial morphology. The cell wall of N. crassa contains at least four major complexes: a peptide-polysaccharide complex; two glucose polymers, one of which was found to be a laminarinlike beta-1,3-glucan; and, lastly, chitin. The levels of one or more of these structural polymers are consistently altered in single-gene mutants with colonial growth, and in sorbose-induced colonial growth. The proportions of these polymers, particularly of the peptide-polysaccharide complex and the beta-1,3-glucan, appear to be important to morphology.