[Chemical and immunogenic properties of the capsular antigen of Staphylococcus aureus. I. purification and chemical characteristics of the capsular antigen].

Crude capsular material isolated from S. aureus strain 1193/74 was characterized chemically and subjected to purification by 4 different methods. The best results were obtained by the method including deproteinization of the material with a mixture of chloroform and butanol, fractional precipitation with ethanol and separation on SE-Sephadex. Galactose, uronic acids, and a small amount of protein served as components characteristic of the purified capsular material. Galacturonic and glucuronic acids were identified amoung the uronic acids. Besides, there were revealed other acids with a carbohydrate base, whose nature is still obscure.