Structural studies on the Escherichia coli O101 lipopolysaccharide found in association with F41 and K99 fimbriae.

In this study it was shown that the O101 lipopolysaccharide isolated from Escherichia coli B41 did not contain an O-specific polysaccharide and that its sugar moiety is probably restricted to the core oligosaccharide. It is characterized by the presence of galactose, glucose, N-acetylglucosamine, heptose and 3-deoxy-D-manno-2-octulosonic acid and the fatty acid composition is typical of an Enterobacteriaceae lipopolysaccharide. Methylation analysis indicated terminal non-reducing galactose and glucose and also 1,2-linked glucose which is a substitution pattern typical of an E. coli lipopolysaccharide core oligosaccharide. The obtained structural information is sufficient to explain the previously observed interactions between the O101 lipopolysaccharide and the K99 lectin.