The influence of the O-antigen and the capsular polysaccharide on the establishment of PlCmts lysogeny in Klebsiella pneumoniae

The O-antigen of the lipopolysaccharide in Klebsiella pneumoniae caused a significant reduction in the frequency of establishment of PlCmts lysogeny, while the capsular polysaccharide showed no effect on this frequency. The bacterial receptor for PlCmts are the lipopolysaccharide-core oligosaccharides, the results suggest that K. pneumoniae strains with an O-antigen in their lipopolysaccharide have a poorly accessible lipopolysaccharide-core (the PlCmts bacterial receptor), while K. pneumoniae strains lacking the O-antigen have a highly accessible lipopolysaccharide-core. The accessibility of the receptor is independent of the K antigen (capsular polysaccharide).