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Chemical Compositions of Cell Walls and Polysaccharide Fractions of Spirochetes
Author(s) -
Yanagihara Yasutake,
Kamisango KeiIchi,
Yasuda Seiji,
Kobayashi Susumu,
Mifuchi Ichiji,
Azuma Ichiro,
Yamamura Yuichi,
Johnson Russell C.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1984.tb00706.x
Subject(s) - leptospira , biology , rhamnose , cell wall , treponema , microbiology and biotechnology , polysaccharide , peptidoglycan , muramic acid , borrelia , biochemistry , galactose , borrelia burgdorferi , serotype , syphilis , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , antibody , immunology
Cellular polysaccharide fractions of various representative members of genera of the family Spirochaetaceae were obtained by the ammonium hydroxide extraction method. The sugar composition of the polysaccharide preparations was complex and many kinds of sugars such as rhamnose, fucose, ribose, xylose, mannose, galactose, and glucose were detected in all of the spirochetes tested. Of particular interest was the presence of 4‐ O ‐methylmannose as a constituent polysaccharide in members of the genus Leptospira . This sugar was not detected in the polysaccharides of Spirochaeta, Borrelia , and Treponema . The chemical compositions of cell wall fractions were also examined. 4‐ O ‐Methylmannose was detected in the cell wall polysaccharides of the genus Leptospira but not in cell walls prepared from the Spirochaeta, Borrelia , and Treponema . The diaminopimelic acid present in cell wall peptidoglycans of the genus Leptospira was meso ‐diaminopimelic acid (A 2 pm). The molar ratios of alanine, glutamic acid, A 2 pm, glycine, muramic acid, and glucosamine in leptospiral cell walls were found to be approximately 2: 1: 1: 1: 1: 1. In contrast to the Leptospira , the peptidoglycans of genera Spirochaeta, Borrelia , and Treponema contained ornithine (Orn) but not A 2 pm. Since 4‐ O ‐methylmannose and A 2 pm were found in the cell wall fractions of genus Leptospira but not in Spirochaeta, Borrelia , or Treponema , it was suggested that the chemical compositions of the cell wall might become an important criterion for the chemotaxonomy of Spirochaetales .