title: Characterization of the lipopolysaccharide O-antigen of Francisella novicida (U112).
abstract: Francisella novicida (U112), a close relative of the highly virulent bacterium F. tularensis, was shown to produce a lipopolysaccharide in which the antigenic O-polysaccharide component was found by chemical, 1H and 13C NMR and MS analyses to be an unbranched neutral linear polymer of a repeating tetrasaccharide unit composed of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-galacturonamide (D-GalNAcAN) and 2,4-diacetamido-2,4,6-trideoxy-D-glucose (D-Qui2NAc4NAc, di-N-acetylbacillosamine) residues (3:1) and had the structure: -->4)-alpha-D-GalNAcAN-(1-->4)-alpha-D-GalNAcAN-(1-->4)-alpha-D-GalNAcAN-(1-->3)-alpha-D-QuiNAc4NAc-(1-->. With polyclonal murine antibody, the F. novicida O-antigen did not show serological cross-reactivity with the O-antigen of F. tularensis despite the occurrence of a common -->4)-D-GalpNAcAN-(1-->4)-alpha-D-GalpNAcAN-(1--> disaccharide unit in their respective O-antigens. Thus, O-PS serology offers a practical way to distinguish between the two Francisella species.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biological Sciences, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OR6.
authors.forename: Evgeny
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vinogradov
authors.forename: Wayne J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Conlan
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gunn
authors.forename: Malcolm B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D005603:Francisella / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019081:O Antigens / Q000737:chemistry*; D012762:Shigella dysenteriae / Q000737:chemistry; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
chemical_list: D019081:O Antigens