Helicobacter mustelae lipid A structure differs from that of Helicobacter pylori

The lipid A structure of the Gram-negative bacterium Helicobacter mustelae, a ferret gastric pathogen responsible for the onset of gastric diseases in its host, was investigated. Two variant lipid A structures a cre found in the same strain. One structure contained a bisphosphorylated beta-(1 -->6)- linked D-glucosamine backbone disaccharide with hydrosytetradecanoic acid i n amide linkages. Unlike the structure described for the lipid A of tile re lated human Heliobacter pylori gastric pathogen, which contains a C1 phosph ate moiety, this lipid A presented phosphate groups at both the C1 and C4 ' positions, and contained no octadecanoyl fatty acid, which is present in I I. pylori. The second lipid A structure had a different fatty acid composit ion in that 3-OH C-16 replaced most of the amide-linked 3-OH C-14. (C) 2001 Federation of European Biochemical Societies, Published by Elsevier Scienc e B.V. All rights reserved.