peptidoglycan

noun

pep·​ti·​do·​gly·​can ˌpep-tə-dō-ˈglī-ˌkan 

: a polymer that is composed of polysaccharide and peptide chains and is found especially in bacterial cell walls

called also mucopeptide, murein

Examples of peptidoglycan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There's an outer membrane, which contains LPS, and an inner membrane made of peptidoglycan, a large polymer that forms a rigid mesh scaffold around the bacterial cytoplasm. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 5 Jan. 2024

The drugs are generally active against gram-positive bacteria, a group of bacteria that has peptidoglycan on the outside of the cell wall. —Jenny Sweigard, Verywell Health, 16 Nov. 2023

When most cells grow and divide, the peptidoglycan breaks apart, grows, and then reassembles itself partly from the original pieces. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 16 June 2023

Jutras is developing a test strip embedded with monoclonal antibodies sensitive to the peptidoglycan fragments, which could be dipped into a urine sample and turn a telltale color if the bacterial material is present. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 16 June 2023

That thick layer of peptidoglycan helps hold in a purple dye called crystal violet. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 16 Aug. 2019

By contrast, cells with more complex cell walls consisting of a relatively thin layer of peptidoglycan plus an outer membrane don’t hold in crystal violet as well. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 16 Aug. 2019

The authors think that the peptidoglycan remains in synovial fluid after the pathogen is gone. —Linda Carroll, NBC News, 18 June 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1966, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

peptidoglycan

noun

pep·​ti·​do·​gly·​can ˌpep-təd-ō-ˈglī-ˌkan 

: a polymer that is composed of polysaccharide and peptide chains and is found especially in bacterial cell walls

called also mucopeptide, murein