Unusual lipid A types in phototrophic bacteria and related species

Photosynthetic bacteria of the Rhodospirillaceae family (sulfur-free purple bacteria) possess lipopolysaccharides (LPS) that deviate markedly from the Salmonella lipopolysaccharides in the chemical makeup of the lipid A component and in their biologic properties. LPS of Rhodopseudomonas gelatinosa is highly toxic and pyrogenic, while that of Rhodospirillum tenue shows cryptic toxicity. Two LPS types are completely non-toxic. The Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides lipid A has the same backbone as that of Salmonella, but a part of the amide-linked fatty acids has the unusual 3-oxo structure (3-oxo-14:0). The lipid A's of Rhodopseudomonas viridis and Rhodopseudomonas palustris have 2,3-diamino-2,3-dideoxy-D-glucose as the backbone sugar. This is the first demonstration of this sugar in nature. In recent studies using 16S rRNA sequencing, the nonphotosynthetic Nitrobacter strains were shown to be phylogenetically closely related to R. palustris. The R. palustris lipid A type has been identified in three Nitrobacter species, including Nitrobacter winogradskyi, the type strain. The data demonstrate the taxonomic significance of lipid A constituents and structures.