Structural studies of the capsular polysaccharide of Klebsiella type 81

The structure of the capsular polysaccharide from Klebsiella Type 81 has beeninvestigated. Methlylation analysis, uronic acid degradation, Smith degradation, andgraded acid hydrolysis were the principle methods used. Theanomeric nature of theglycosidic linkages was determined by characterization of fragments obtained from thevarious methods of degradation used. One of the L-rhamnosidic linkages was notpresent in any of these fragments, but is assumed to be an alpha-linkage from consideerationsof optical-rotation data. These studies show that they polysaccharide consits of thefollowing hexasaccharide repeating-unit: yield2)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1yields3)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-yields4)-beta-D-GlcAP-(1-yields2)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-yields3)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-yields3)-beta-D-Galp-(1-yields.