Isolation and characterization of sugar nucleotides from Mycobacterium smegmatis

The cell walls of Mycobacterium smegmatis contained a number of serologically active polysaccharides such as arabinomannan, mannan, and glucan in addition to arabinogalactan. The biosynthetic pathways of these polysaccharides are not well understood. Characterization of the sugar nucleotide pool of M. smegmatis showed the presence of (uridine diphosphate-) UDP-glucose, UDP-galactose, UDP-mannose, UDP-arabinose and UDP-hexuronic acid(s). It is suggested that these compounds may be intermediates in the biosynthesis of a number of mycobacterial polysaccharides.