Relationship of the Major Constituents of the Neurospora crassa 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 β-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 β-1,3-glucan, appear to be important to morphology.