STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF THE EXTRACELLULAR POLYSACCHARIDE FROM BUTYRIVIBRIO-FIBRISOLVENS STRAIN-49

The structure of Butyriuibrio fibrisolvens strain 49 capsular polysacc haride has been investigated mainly by sugar and methylation analysis, partial chemical degradations, NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometr y. The results suggest that the polysaccharide is composed of pentasac charide repeating units having the following structure. [GRAPHICS] The polysaccharide contains O-acetyl groups, one of which is substituted to O-3 of the 4-substituted alpha-D-Galp residue, while others occur i n non-stoichiometric amounts at other locations.