[Structure of a new lysine-containing O-specific polysaccharide from Proteus mirabilis O26]

The composition and structure of the O-specific polysaccharide chain of the bacterium Proteus mirabilis O26 lipopolysaccharide have been studied using one- and two-dimensional 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy, including homonuclear correlation spectroscopy (COSY), H-detected 1H,13C heteronuclear multi-quantum coherence and rotating-frame nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy. It has been found that the polysaccharide is acidic due to the presence of D-galacturonic acid (D-GalA) residues, part of which are O-acetylated, while the other part form an amide with the alpha-amino group of L-lysine and is built up of tetrasaccharide repeating units having the following structure: [formula: see text] The P. mirabilis O26 polysaccharide is structurally similar to the O-specific polysaccharide of P. mirabilis O28 studied earlier by us and containing amides of D-galacturonic acid with L-lysine and L-serine.