[Glycine as an inherent component of bacterial lipopolysaccharides]

The amino-acylation of bacterial polysaccharide antigens and the biological role of this phenomenon are poorly understood, although it might be relevant in the processes of the infection and immunity. Due to the lability of ester linked substituents on glyco-conjugate antigens, usually such groups escaped detection during routine structural investigation. Among the only few data available, these on the occurrence of glycine in endotoxic lipopolysaccharides of Gram-negative bacteria are well documented. This work summarises these data on glycine as an integral constituent of bacterial LPS and also on some other amino acid esters in teichoic acids and phosphatidylglycerol of Gram-positive bacteria. The possible functions are discussed of such noncarbohydrate ester linked substituents in bacterial antigens.