Lipopolysaccharides of R mutants isolated from Vibria cholerae

The chemical and serological properties of lipopolysaccharides isolated from the S form and from the R form of cholera vibrios were compared. It was found that the S-R mutation of cholera vibrios involves total elimination of the two component amino sugars of S-form lipopolysaccharides, i.e. quinovosamine and perosamine. This elimination resulted in the loss of O-specificity of S-form lipopolysaccharides and concomitant appearance of strong serological cross-reactivity, in the passive-haemolysis-inhibition test, among R-form lipopolysaccharides regardless of the serotypes (Inaba and Ogawa) of their S parent strains.