Structure of the O16 antigen of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

A polysaccharide containing D-ribose, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, and N-acetyl-D-mannosamine was isolated from the phenol-soluble lipopolysaccharide extracted from defatted cell walls of the reference strain (560) for serogroup O16 of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. The results of methylation analysis, chemical degradations, and NMR spectroscopy showed that the polysaccharide is based on a branched trisaccharide repeating-unit of the structure shown below. Although ribose was absent from about half of the units in the isolated polymer, the regularity and spacing of the ladder observed on SDS-PAGE of the parent lipopolysaccharide indicate that this was an artefact of the mild acid hydrolysis used to release the polymer. On the other hand, the effects of mild alkaline hydrolysis on the polymer indicated partial O-acetylation. [structure: see text]