An 0-specific polysaccharide was liberated from Cumpylnbucter fetus subsp. fetus serotype B lipopolysaccharide by mild acid hydrolysis followed by gel chromatography. This polysaccharide was found to contain D-rhamnose and 3-O-niethyl-~-rhamnose (~-Rha3Me, D-acofriose) in a ratio of approximately 24: 1 , as well as lipopolysaccharide core constituents. The structure of the polysaccharide was studied by 'H-NMR and "C-NMR spectroscopy, which included two-dimensional COSY, rotating-frame NOE spectroscopy (ROESY), and computer-assisted analysis of the "C-NMR spectrum. Methylation analysis using rH,Jmethyl iodide and Smith degradation followed by GLC/MS of the derived acetylated oligosaccharide-alditols was used to determine the location of D-acofrloSe. The 0-specific polysaccharide is linear, consists on average of 12 disaccharide repeating units, and is terminated by a residue of D-acofriose. The following structure of the D-rhamnan chain was established:Keywords: Cmipylohacter fetus ; lipopolysaccharide ; 0-specific polysaccharide ; D-rhamnose ; 3-0-methyl-D-rhainiiose.Campylobacfer fetus is a spiral, microaerophilic gram-negative bacterium that is a common pathogen of ungulates, and causes extraintestinal infections in imniunocomprornised humans, including bacteraeniia and septicaemia [I -31. There are two subspecies of C. jktus: C. ,fetus subsp. fetus, which is transmitted orally in faeces, and causes septic abortions in cattle and sheep; and C. fetus subsp. venerealis, which is transmitted venereally, and causes infertility in cattle [Z, 41.The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of C. fetus is endotoxic 151 and forms the basis of the heat-stable antigen serotyping scheme of the bacterium [6]. Two main serotypes exist (A and B): C. jetus subsp. ,fetus strains belong to type A, whereas C. fetus subsp. verzerealis comprises both serotype A and B strains [7, 81. Biochemical tests can be applied to further differentiate between serotype A strains [7].Serological and electrophoretic analyses have shown that wild-type C. fetus strains produce high-molecular-mass LPS with 0-specific polysaccharide chains [6], and this can contribute to the resistance of strains to bactericidal activity of serum 19, 101. Serum-resistant strains also produce a crystalline surface array (Slayer) protein that is associated with virulence [I I ] and which is anchored to the bacterial surface by interaction with the 0-specific polysaccharide of C. Compositional analysis of C. fetus LPS has revealed the presence of rhamnose, fucose, Inannose, glucose, galactose, L-glycero-D-niunno-heptose, and D-gl?icero-D-munno-heptose in variable proportions in the different serotypes [14J. Nevertheless, despite the importance of LPS in serotyping and pathogenesis of C. fetus, no structural data on the 0-specific polysaccharide have been available to date. We now report that the structure of the 0-specific polysaccharide of C. fetus subsp. fetus serotype B is a D-rhamnan terminated with a D-acofrioSe residue.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURESBacterial growth, isolation of lipo...