alleryStart learning →In a Gram-positive bacterium, peptidoglycan accounts for what share of the cell wall?
AAbout 10 percent of the total wall
BUp to 90 percent of the total wall
CAbout 50 percent of the total wall
DUnder 5 percent of the total wall
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Up to 90 percent of the total wall
1. Gram-positive organisms build a thick wall, and up to 90 percent of it is peptidoglycan.
2. Most of the remainder is made of acidic substances called teichoic acids.
3. The 10 percent figure belongs to Gram-negative bacteria, whose wall is only a few peptidoglycan layers thick.
4. That thickness difference is why the two groups respond differently to Gram staining.
5. Values of 50 percent and 5 percent match neither group.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 22 "Prokaryotes: Bacteria and Archaea", section 22.2 Structure of Prokaryotes_
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