THE TEICHOIC ACIDS , are polyols consisting predominantly of glycerol, ribitol and mannitol, are covalently linked to the peptidoglycan through phosphodiester bonds and can be substituted by sugars, aminosugars or D-alanine residues. Some rare teichoic acids lack polyols. Teichoic acids are found in some actinomycetes, bacilli, lactobacilli, listeria and staphylococci.

Almost all microorganisms express surface-exposed carbohydrates. The carbohydrates may be covalently-bound, as in glycosylated teichoic acids to peptidoglycan, or non-covalently-bound, as in capsular polysaccharides.