Open AccessA unique variant of streptococcal group O‐antigen (C‐polysaccharide) that lacks phosphocholine
Author(s) -
Bergström Niklas,
Jansson PerErik,
Kilian Mogens,
Skov Sørensen Uffe B.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
european journal of biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1432-1033
pISSN - 0014-2956
DOI - 10.1046/j.1432-1033.2003.03569.x
Subject(s) - phosphocholine , polysaccharide , choline , streptococcus mitis , streptococcus pneumoniae , microbiology and biotechnology , cell wall , streptococcus , biochemistry , chemistry , galactose , stereochemistry , biology , bacteria , phosphatidylcholine , genetics , antibiotics , phospholipid , membrane
Streptococcus mitis strain SK598, which represents a subgroup of biovar 1, possesses a unique variant of the C‐polysaccharide found in the cell wall of all strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae and in some strains of S. mitis . This new variant lacks the choline methyl groups in contrast to the previously characterized forms of C‐polysaccharide, which all contain one or two choline residues per repeat. The following structure of the repeating unit of the SK598 polysaccharide was established: where AAT is 2‐acetamido‐4‐amino‐2,4,6‐trideoxy‐ d ‐galactose. This structure is identical to the double choline‐substituted form of C‐polysaccharide, except that it is substituted with ethanolamine instead of choline. This extends the number of recognized C‐polysaccharide variants to four.