Structural characterization of the O-polysaccharide isolated from Franconibacter helveticus LMG23732(T).

The bacterial strain Franconibacter helveticus LMG 23732(T) was previously misidentified as the neonatal pathogen Cronobacter zurichensis. O-polysaccharide (OPS) is a part of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is an important cell envelope compound of Gram-negative bacteria. OPS isolated from the bacterium Franconibacter helveticus LMG23732(T) was characterized by chemical analyses as well as 1D and 2D NMR experiments. Compositional analyses indicated the presence of glucose and unusual 6-deoxy sugar - 6-deoxy-talose (6-dTal). The studied strain produced OPS, which consists of 6-l-dTalp in main chain and terminal d-Glcp as a branch: This is the first structural determination of the OPS isolated from genus Franconibacter.