STRUCTURE OF THE O-POLYSACCHARIDE OF PROTEUS VULGARIS O44:
A NEW O-ANTIGEN THAT CONTAINS AN AMIDE OF D-GLUCURONIC ACID WITH L-ALANINE

F.V. Toukacha, A.V. Perepelova, B. Bartodziejska,b, A.S. Shashkova, A. Blaszczykb, N.P. Arbatskya, A. Rozalskib, Y.A. Knirela

aN. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
bCenter of Microbiology and Virology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lodz, Poland

KEYWORDS: Proteus vulgaris, O-Antigen, Lipopolysaccharide, Polysaccharide structures, N-(D-Glucuronoyl)-L-alanine

Carbohydrate Research, 2003, v. 338, pp. 1431-1435

DOI: 10.1016/S0008-6215(03)00096-X


The O-polysaccharide of Proteus vulgaris O44, strain PrK 67/57 was studied by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, including 2D COSY, TOCSY, ROESY, H-detected 1H,13C HMQC, HMQC/TOCSY and HMBC experiments. The polysaccharide was found to contain an amide of D-glucuronic acid with L-alanine, and the following structure of the linear pentasaccharide repeating unit was established:

       l-Ala
	 |6
-4)bDGlcpA6(1-3)bDGalpNAc(1-4)bDGlcp(1-3)aDGalp(1-4)bDGalpNAc(1-

The structural data of the O-polysaccharide and the results of serological studies with P. vulgaris O44 O-antiserum showed that the strain studied is unique among Proteus bacteria, which is in agreement with its classification in a separate Proteus serogroup, O44.


ScienceScience: Proteus SciencePublications: Proteus ScienceHome : Science