Structure of the polysaccharide isolated from the sheath of Sphaerotilus natans

Int J Biol Macromol. 2003 Dec;33(4-5):245-50. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2003.08.008.

Abstract

A polysaccharide was isolated from the sheath of a sheathed bacterium, Sphaerotilus natans. The sheath polysaccharide (SPS) was composed of D-glucose and D-(N-acetyl)galactosamine in molar ratios of 1:4. Methylation linkage analysis revealed the presence of the residues of 4-linked glucose, 4-linked (N-acetyl)galactosamine, and 3-linked (N-acetyl)galactosamine in molar ratios of 1:3:1. The oligomer of SPS was prepared with an SPS-specific degrading enzyme from a sheath-degrading bacterium, Paenibacillus koleovorans. The oligomer was derivatized and subjected to fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry to investigate the monosaccharide sequence of SPS. The structure of SPS was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance. The resulting data showed that SPS is a straight-chained basic polysaccharide constructed of a pentasaccharide repeating unit.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetylgalactosamine / analysis
  • Acetylgalactosamine / chemistry
  • Bacteria / enzymology
  • Betaproteobacteria / chemistry*
  • Betaproteobacteria / physiology
  • Carbohydrate Conformation
  • Carbohydrate Sequence
  • Enzymes / metabolism
  • Glucose / analysis
  • Glucose / chemistry
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Methylation
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Monosaccharides / analysis
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial / chemistry*
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial / metabolism
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Fast Atom Bombardment

Substances

  • Enzymes
  • Monosaccharides
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial
  • Glucose
  • Acetylgalactosamine