Elucidation of a masked repeating structure of the O-specific polysaccharide of the halotolerant soil bacteria Azospirillum halopraeferens Au4.

An O-specific polysaccharide was obtained by mild acid hydrolysis of the lipopolysaccharide isolated by the phenol-water extraction from the halotolerant soil bacteria Azospirillum halopraeferens type strain Au4. The polysaccharide was studied by sugar and methylation analyses, selective cleavages by Smith degradation and solvolysis with trifluoroacetic acid, one- and two-dimensional (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy. The following masked repeating structure of the O-specific polysaccharide was established: →3)-α-L-Rhap2Me-(1→3)-[ß-D-Glcp-(1→4)]-α-D-Fucp-(1→2)-ß-D-Xylp-(1→, where non-stoichiometric substituents, an O-methyl group (~45%) and a side-chain glucose residue (~65%), are shown in italics.