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AAT Bioquest

Do viruses have peptidoglycan?

Posted August 13, 2021


Answer

No, viruses do not have peptidoglycan. Peptidoglycan is a substance that forms the outermost layer of bacterial cell walls. As viruses are acellular entities, they lack most cellular components including a cell wall. As such, they do not have peptidoglycan. 

Peptidoglycan is unique to cell walls in bacteria.

Additional resources

Principles of Virus Structure

MycoLight™ Live Bacteria Fluorescence Imaging Kit