Chemical composition of the extracellular slime glycolipoprotein of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its relation to gentamicin resistance.

The slime glycolipoproteins (GLPs) extracted from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain C2 and its laboratory-induced gentamicin-resistant variant were analysed for gross chemical composition. The GLP of the wild-type strain contained significantly greater amounts of neutral sugars, uronic acid and thiobarbituric-reactive material (p less than 0.001) than the GLP of the gentamicin-resistant variant. Also significantly higher (p less than 0.01) was the amino-sugar content of the GLP from the wild-type strain. Paper chromatographic analyses of the hydrolysates of the GLPs revealed that two neutral sugars, rhamnose and mannose, were absent from the GLP of the resistant variant. The GLP of strain C2 contained significantly less protein than the GLP of the gentamicin-resistant variant.