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.