Chemical and biological characterization of lipopolysaccharides from the Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola IMV 381 collection culture and its dissociants

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) were isolated from the crude bacterial mass of the Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola IMV 381 collection culture and its virulent and avirulent subcultures isolated earlier from the heterogeneous collection culture due to its natural variability during long-term storage. The composition, immunochemical properties, and certain parameters of the biological activity of the LPS preparations obtained were studied. The structural parts of the LPS macromolecule—lipid A, the core oligosaccharide, and O-specific polysaccharide (OPS)—were isolated and characterized. The following fatty acids were identified in the lipid A composition of all cultures: 3-OH-C_10:0, C_12:0, 2-OH-C_12:0, 3-OH-C_12:0, C_16:1, C_16:0, C_18:1, and C_18:0. Glucosamine (GlcN), ethanolamine (EtN), phosphoethanolamine (EtN-P), and phosphorus (P) were revealed in the hydrophilic portion of the macromolecule. In the core portion of the LPS macromolecule, glucose (Glc), rhamnose (Rha), GlcN, galactosamine (GalN), 2-keto-3-deoxyoctulosonic acid (KDO), alanine (Ala), and P were found. The peculiarities of the structure of LPS isolated from the stable collection culture (LPS_stab) and its virulent (LPS_vir) and avirulent (LPS_avir) subcultures were studied. LPS_vir and LPS_avir were identical in the monosaccharide composition and contained as the main components L-rhamnose (L-Rha) and 3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxy-D-galactose (D-Fuc3NAc), like LPS_stab, studied earlier. The NMR spectra of LPS_vir were identical to the spectra of LPS_stab, whose O-chain repeating unit structure was studied by us earlier, whereas LPS_avir differed from LPS_vir in the NMR spectrum and was identified by us as the SR form. LPS_avir was serologically identical to LPS_stab and LPS_vir. Hence, the degree of polymerism of the LPS O-chain of P. Syringae pv. maculicola IMV 381 is the main virulence factor in infected model plants. Serological relationships were studied between P. Syringae pv. maculicola IMV 381 and the strains of other pathovars with structurally similar LPS.Translated from Mikrobiologiya, Vol. 73, No. 6, 2004, pp. 790–801.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by G. Zdorovenko, Varbanets, E. Zdorovenko, Vinarskaya, Yakovleva.