The lengths of bacterial polysaccharides can be critical for their biological function. Unlike DNA or protein synthesis, where polymer length is implicit in the nucleic acid template, the molecular mechanisms for regulating polysaccharide length are poorly understood. Two models are commonly cited: a "molecular clock" regulates length by controlling the duration of the polymer extension process, whereas a "molecular ruler" determines length by measurement against a physical structure in the biosynthetic complex. Escherichia coli O9a is a prototype for the biosynthesis of O polysaccharides by ATP-binding cassette transporter-dependent processes. The length of the O9a polysaccharide is determined by two proteins: an extension enzyme, WbdA, and a termination enzyme, WbdD. WbdD is known to self-oligomerize and also to interact with WbdA. Changing either enzyme's concentration can alter the polysaccharide length. We quantified the O9a polysaccharide length distribution and the enzyme concentration dependence in vivo, then made mathematical models to predict the polymer length distributions resulting from hypothetical length-regulation mechanisms. Our data show qualitative features that cannot be explained by either a molecular clock or a molecular ruler model. Therefore, we propose a "variable geometry" model, in which a postulated biosynthetic WbdA-WbdD complex assembles with variable stoichiometry dependent on relative enzyme concentration. Each stoichiometry produces polymers with a distinct, geometrically determined, modal length. This model reproduces the enzyme concentration dependence and modality of the observed polysaccharide length distributions. Our work highlights limitations of previous models and provides new insight into the mechanisms of length control in polysaccharide biosynthesis.chain length | mathematical modeling | template-independent polymerization W hereas nucleic acids and proteins are synthesized from a template of specified length, carbohydrates are constructed template-free, implying that the mechanisms for length control must lie in the biosynthetic machinery itself.Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a glycolipid which constitutes the major and characteristic component of the outer leaflet of the outer membrane of most Gram negative bacterial cell envelopes (reviewed in ref. 1). Most bacteria produce LPS molecules that contain a conserved lipid A moiety linked to a short (core) oligosaccharide. In many species, a proportion of LPS molecules have an additional domain known as O polysaccharide (OPS), O antigen or O chain. OPS is a carbohydrate polymer in which the repeating unit (O unit) consists of a short oligosaccharide or sometimes a single sugar. OPS is synthesized template-free by glycosyltransferases and is found in lengths that vary from one repeat unit to several hundred sugars.The biological roles of OPS vary from species to species, but for bacterial pathogens, it commonly confers resistance to the bactericidal effects of host complement. The mechanisms of resistance can vary, so that ...