Identification of the major antigenic determinants on lipoglycans from Acholeplasma granularum and Acholeplasma...

The major antigenic determinants of the lipoglycans from Acholeplasma granularum and Acholeplasma axanthum were found to be the oligosaccharide sequences Glcp(beta 1 leads to 2)-Glcp(alpha 1 leads to 4)-Glcp and Glcp(beta 1 leads to 2)-Glcp(beta 1 leads to 2)-Glcp, respectively. The disaccharides sophorose and maltose inhibited hemagglutination by specific antiserum of sheep erythrocytes coated with lipoglycan from A. granularum. Only sophorose possessed this capacity with the lipoglycan from A. axanthum. Periodate oxidation destroyed the ability of both lipoglycans to interact with specific antibody, a result compatible with structural data on the lipoglycans.