AN AFFINITY CHROMATOGRAPHIC METHOD FOR THE PREPARATION OF BACTERIAL LIPOTEICHOIC ACIDS

Lipoteichoic acids (LTAs) have the ability to form stable complexes wi th polysaccharides in ethanol solutions. When crude preparations of LT A from Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus sobrinus were poured over a column of Sephacryl S-200 equilibrated with 80% ethanol, the LTAs bou nd strongly to the column. Elution of the LTA was brought about by dis tilled water. The affinity-purified LTA was able to sensitize red cell s to aggregation with anti-poly(glycerolphosphate). Chemical analyses showed that glycerol:phosphorus ratios were near unity. Contaminating protein with LTA seemed to be very low when the affinity method was us ed. Yields of LTA, however, are only 40-50% of the conventional phenol extract-Sepharose gel filtration method.