Peptidoglycans

Peptidoglycans are complex polysaccharide molecules composed of alternating sugar residues and short peptides that form a rigid scaffold in the cell walls of bacterial cells. This scaffold is essential for the cell wall’s structural integrity, maintaining the cell’s shape and protecting it from mechanical and osmotic stress. Peptidoglycans also play an important role in maintaining the microbe's interactions with its environment, such as aiding in the uptake of nutrients and providing a surface for adhesion. As such, peptidoglycans are important markers for bacterial identification, and manipulation of their structure is a common target for antibiotics that could be used to disrupt the bacterial cell wall, killing the pathogen.