Mycobacterial polysaccharides. II. Comparison of polysaccharides from strains of four species of mycobacteria.

Evidence from chemical and serological studies indicates that a cellular heteropolysaccharide, also found in lipid extracts and culture filtrate, is present as a group antigen in Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra and in other strains of mycobacteria representing M. kansasii, scotochromogenic and Battey strains. Polysaccharides from the four strains contain the same main sugars, arabinose, and galactose, as revealed by thin-layer chromatography and spectrophotometric studies.

Chemical and serological relationships between the heteropolysaccharides of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium kansasii.

The identity of a heteropolysaccharide from cell walls of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra with Seibert's tuberculopolysaccharide I was demonstrated by thin-layer chromatography, chemical analysis, and antigenic tests. The polysaccharide of M. kansasii was shown to be identical with that of M.