STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF THE SACCHARIDE PART OF THE CELL-ENVELOPE LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE FROM HAEMOPHILUS-INFLUENZAE STRAIN AH1-3(LIC3+)

The structure of the saccharide part of the lipopolysaccharide from Ha emophilus influenzae strain AH1-3 (lic3+) has been investigated. The s accharide was obtained from the lipopolysaccharide by mild acid hydrol ysis followed by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography, and i solated fractions were studied by methylation analysis, NMR spectrosco py, and FAB mass spectrometry. The major saccharide is a heptasacchari de with the following structure, [GRAPHICS] in which Kdo is 3-deoxy-D- manno-oct-2-ulosonic acid and PEA is 2-aminoethyl phosphate. Hep is id entified as L-glycero-D-manno-heptose. The absolute configuration of t he phosphorylated heptose is tentative only.