Equilibrium binding behavior of magnesium to wall teichoic acid

Peptidoglycan and teichoic acids are the major cell wall components of Gram-positive bacteria that obtain and sequester metal ions required for biochemical processes. The delivery of metals to the cytoplasmic membrane is aided by anionic binding sites within the peptidoglycan and along the phosphodiester polymer of teichoic acid. The interaction with metals is a delicate balance between the need for attraction and ion diffusion to the membrane. Likewise, metal chelation from the extracellular fluid must initially have strong binding energetics that weaken within the cell wall to enable ion release. We employed atomic absorption and equilibrium dialysis to measure the metal binding capacity and metal binding affinity of wall teichoic acid and Mg 2+. Data show that Mg 2+ binds to WTA with a 1:2 Mg 2+ to phosphate ratio with a binding capacity of 1.27 μmol/mg. The affinity of Mg 2+ to WTA was also found to be 41 × 10 3 M −1 at low metal concentrations and 1.3 × 10 3 M −1 at higher Mg 2+ concentrations due to weakening electrostatic effects. These values are lower than the values describing Mg 2+ interactions with peptidoglycan. However, the binding capacity of WTA is 4 times larger than peptidoglycan. External WTA initially binds metals with positive cooperativity, but metal binding switches to negative cooperativity, whereas interior WTA binds metals with only negative cooperativity. The relevance of this work is to describe changes in metal binding behavior depending on environment. When metals are sparse, chelation is strong to ensure survival yet the binding weakens when essential minerals are abundant.