Structural studies on the lipopolysaccharides isolated from bacteriophage selected strains of Aecomonas hydrophila

Michon, Francis (1983) Structural studies on the lipopolysaccharides isolated from bacteriophage selected strains of Aecomonas hydrophila. Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

A. hydrophila represents a group of bacteria pathogenic to fish. Recently the same bacteria have been increasingly implicated in human infections, particularly as a secondary invader, and are now being recognized as a serious pathogen under these circumstances. As little is known of the biochemical basis of pathogenicity of this species, interest in the structure and immunological properties of the cell surface polysaccharides of the different chemotypes of this gram-negative bacterium has increased. – The three bacterial colonies used for this investigation were selected from a biochemically pure culture of A. hydrophila. One represented the overall strain, whereas the other two, mutants, were isolated as morphologically different clones. The original strain and one of the clones were sensitive to phage while the other clone was resistant to the same phage. – Lipopolysaccharides were extracted from all three variants, and the basic structures of the polysaccharide portion from each of the three strains exhibited distinct structural differences. – Chemical analysis (methylation, periodate oxidation and selective degradations) as well as spectroscopic techniques including mass spectrometry and high resolution on n.m.r. were used for the structural investigations.

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