The structure of the lipopolysaccharide O-antigen produced by Flavobacterium psychrophilum (259-93).

Flavobacterium psychrophilum, a Gram-negative bacterium, is the etiological agent of rainbow trout fry syndrome and bacterial cold water disease, septicemic infections in reared salmonids. In humans Flavobacterium spp. have been associated with neonatal meningitis and septicemia, catheter-associated bacteremia, and pneumonia. Recently, several F. psychrophilum surface molecules, including lipopolysaccharide (LPS), have been implicated in its pathogenesis and identified as potential vaccine and diagnostic candidate macromolecules. Studies on the LPS produced by the bacterium are reported herein. The structure of the antigenic O-polysaccharide contained in the LPS of F. psychrophilum was deduced by the application of analytical NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, glycose and methylation analysis, and partial hydrolysis degradations, and was found to be an unbranched polymer of trisaccharide repeating units composed of L-rhamnose (L-Rhap), 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-L-fucose (L-FucpNAc) and 2-acetamido-4-((3S,5S)-3,5-dihydroxyhexanamido)-2,4-dideoxy-D-quinovose (D-Quip2NAc4NR, 2-N-acetyl-4-N-((3S,5S)-3,5-dihydroxyhexanoyl)-D-bacillosamine) (1 : 1 : 1) and having the structure: -->4)-alpha-L-FucpNAc-(1-->3)-alpha-D-Quip2NAc4NR-(1-->2)- alpha-L-Rhap-(1--> where R is (3S,5S)-CH3CH(OH)CH2CH(OH)CH2CO-.