THE O7 ANTIGEN OF STENOTROPHOMONAS-MALTOPHILIA IS A LINEAR D-RHAMNAN WITH A TRISACCHARIDE REPEATING UNIT THAT IS ALSO PRESENT IN POLYMERS FROM SOME PSEUDOMONAS AND BURKHOLDERIA SPECIES

The O antigen polymer recovered from the reference strain for Stenotro phomonas (Xanthomonas or Pseudomonas) maltophilia serogroup O7, after mild acid hydrolysis of the lipopolysaccharide, was constructed from D -rhamnose. By means of chemical degradations and NMR studies, the repe ating unit of the polymer was shown to be a linear trisaccharide with the structure --> 2)-alpha-D-Rhap-(1 --> 3)-alpha-D-Rhap-(1 --> 3)-alp ha-D-Rhap-(1 -->. The same repeating unit is present in the common ant igen of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and in O antigens from some pathovars o f Pseudomonas syringae and a strain of Burkholderia (Pseudomonas) cepa cia. (C) 1998 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Publis hed by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.