Lipopolysaccharides from Serratia marcescens possess one or two 4-amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinopyranose 1-phosphate residues in the lipid A and D-glycero-D-talo-oct-2-ulopyranosonic acid in the inner core region.

The carbohydrate backbones of the core-lipid A region were characterized from the lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) of Serratia marcescens strains 111R (a rough mutant strain of serotype O29) and IFO 3735 (a smooth strain not serologically characterized but possessing the O-chain structure of serotype O19). The LPSs were degraded either by mild hydrazinolysis (de-O-acylation) and hot 4 M KOH (de-N-acylation), or by hydrolysis in 2 % aqueous acetic acid, or by deamination. Oligosaccharide phosphates were isolated by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography.

Characterization of nosocomial Serratia marcescens isolates: comparison of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of genomic DNA fragments and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis.

A total of 66 Serratia marcescens isolates from 46 patients was investigated by macrorestriction using XbaI followed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. 7 restriction fragment patterns attributable to more than one patient and 9 individual patterns were identified. The isolates were additionally characterized by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

Characterization of urinary Escherichia coli O75 strains.

Forty-four Escherichia coli O75 strains from patients with urinary tract infections were characterized by a variety of methods to obtain evidence of their clonal distribution and uropathogenic properties. By K and H antigen typing, the strains were divided into the following serotypes: O75:K5:H- (18 strains), O75:K95:H- (10 strains), O75:K95:H5 (7 strains), O75:K100:H5 (4 strains), and O75:K-:H55 (5 strains). Generally, biotyping proved to be of no discriminative value.

NMR investigation of the 6-deoxy-L-talose-containing O45, O45-related (O45rel), and O66 polysaccharides of Escherichia coli.

The structures of the 6-deoxytalose-containing O-specific polysaccharides from the O45 antigen, an O45-related antigen (O45rel), and the O66 antigen (lipopolysaccharides, LPSs) of Escherichia coli were elucidated by chemical characterization and by one- and two-dimensional 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The O45 and O45-related polysaccharides have the following general structure: [formula: see text] For the O45 antigen, X is alpha-D-FucpNAc and for the O45-related antigen, X is beta-D-GlcpNAc. The structure of the O66 polysaccharide is [formula: see text]

Genomic and biochemical relatedness between Vibrio cholerae serovar O139 and serovar O1 eltor strains.

Vibrio cholerae O139 (Bengal) the new pandemic cholera strain emerging on the Indian subcontinent has revealed considerable homology to Vibrio cholerae O1 EL Tor (strain of the seventh pandemic cholera) in terms of genetic and biochemical properties. Apart from capsule and O139 LPS formation, all strains of V. cholerae O139 were found to be identical to V.