THE LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE BIOSYNTHESIS LOCUS OF CAMPYLOBACTER-JEJUNI-81116

Most Campylobacter jejuni strains express lipo-oligosaccharides. Some strains also express lipopolysaccharides (LPS), with O-antigen-like ca rbohydrate repeats. C. jejuni 81116 expresses an LPS containing both l ipo-oligosaccharides and O-antigen-sike repeats, but nothing is known about the structure or sugar composition of these LPS species. A cosmi d library of the genome of C. jejuni 81116 was constructed and probed with Campylobacter hyoilei genes involved in LPS synthesis. Five cosmi ds hybridized with the probe and two of these expressed C. jejuni 8111 6 LPS in Escherichia coli. By subcloning, a 16 kb DNA region was ident ified which contains the genetic information required to express C. je juni LPS. DNA sequence analysis revealed 11 ORFs homologous to genes i nvolved in LPS synthesis of other bacteria. They consisted of three ho mologues of sugar biosynthesis genes, two homologues of transport gene s and six homologues of sugar transferases.