Teichoic acid biosynthesis - Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis ATCC 15697 (JGI)

Teichoic acids (TAs) are a class of cell surface glycopolymers found in the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria. They are anionic polymers consisting of glycerol phosphate (GroP) or ribitol phosphate (RboP) repeat units linked by phosphodiester bonds. There are two types of teichoic acids: wall teichoic acid (WTA), which is attached to peptidoglycan by a disaccharide linkage unit, and lipoteichoic acid (LTA), which is attached to the plasma membrane by the Glc-DAG anchor. The repat units of both WTA and LTA may further be modified by glycosyl residues and/or D-alanine esters, generating structural variations.