lipid-a and glycero-manno-heptose

From a historical perspective, the study of both the biochemistry and the genetics of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) synthesis began with the enteric bacteria. These organisms have again come to the forefront as the blocks of genes involved in LPS synthesis have been sequenced and analyzed. A number of new and unanticipated genes were found in these clusters, indicating a complexity of the biochemical pathways which was not predicted from the older studies. One of the most dramatic areas of LPS research has been the elucidation of the lipid A biosynthetic pathway. Four of the genes in this pathway have now been identified and sequenced, and three of them are located in a complex operon which also contains genes involved in DNA and phospholipid synthesis. The rfa gene cluster, which contains many of the genes for LPS core synthesis, includes at least 17 genes. One of the remarkable findings in this cluster is a group of several genes which appear to be involved in the synthesis of alternate rough core species which are modified so that they cannot be acceptors for O-specific polysaccharides. The rfb gene clusters which encode O-antigen synthesis have been sequenced from a number of serotypes and exhibit the genetic polymorphism anticipated on the basis of the chemical complexity of the O antigens. These clusters appear to have originated by the exchange of blocks of genes among ancestral organisms. Among the large number of LPS genes which have now been sequenced from these rfa and rfb clusters, there are none which encode proteins that appear to be secreted across the cytoplasmic membrane and surprisingly few which encode integral membrane proteins or proteins with extensive hydrophobic domains. These data, together with sequence comparison and complementation experiments across strain and species lines, suggest that the LPS biosynthetic enzymes may be organized into clusters on the inner surface of the cytoplasmic membrane which are organized around a few key membrane proteins.

Topics: Carbohydrate Sequence; Endotoxins; Enterobacteriaceae; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Genes, Bacterial; Glycosylation; Heptoses; Lipid A; Lipopolysaccharides; Molecular Sequence Data; O Antigens; Polysaccharides, Bacterial; Sugar Acids

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an important virulence factor of Burkholderia cepacia, an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that causes life-threatening disease in cystic fibrosis patients and immunocompromised individuals. B. cepacia LPS comprises an O-specific polysaccharide covalently linked to a core oligosaccharide (OS) which in turn is attached to a lipid A moiety. The complete structure of the LPS core oligosaccharide from B. cepacia serotype O4 was investigated by detailed NMR and mass spectrometry (MS) methods. High- (HMW) and low-molecular-weight (LMW) OSs were obtained by deacylation, dephosphorylation, and reducing-end reduction of the LPS. Glycan and NMR analyses established that both OSs contain a common inner-core structure consisting of D-glucose, L-glycero-D-manno-heptose, D-glycero-D-manno-heptose, 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulsonic acid, and D-glycero-D-talo-2-octulosonic acid. The structure of the LMW OS differed from that of the HMW OS in that it lacks a tetra-rhamnosyl GlcNAc OS extension. These structural conclusions were confirmed by tandem MS analyses of the two OS fractions as well as an OS fraction obtained by alkaline deacylation of the LPS. The location of a phosphoethanolamine substituent in the core region was determined by ESI-MS and methylation analysis of O-deacylated LPS and core OS samples. A polyclonal antibody to B. cepacia serotype O4 core OS was cross-reactive with several other serotypes indicating common structural features.

Topics: Burkholderia cepacia; Ethanolamines; Glucose; Heptoses; Lipid A; Lipopolysaccharides; Methylation; Models, Chemical; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; O Antigens; Polysaccharides, Bacterial; Serotyping; Sugar Acids; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Early steps in the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) involve the transfer of 3-deoxy-alpha-D-manno-oct-2-ulopyranosonic acid (Kdo) to lipid A. Whereas Kdo transferases (WaaA) of Escherichia coli generate a (2 --> 4)-linked Kdo disaccharide, Chlamydiae contain tri- or tetra-functional WaaA generating oligosaccharides with (2 --> 8)- and (2 --> 4)-linkages between Kdo. It has been suggested that the transfer of L-glycero-alpha-D-manno-heptose (Hep) to Kdo by an E. coli WaaC may not be possible in the presence of (2 --> 8)-linked Kdo. E. coli double-mutants deficient in heptosyltransferases I (waaC) and II (waaF) and expressing waaA of Chlamydiae instead of their own, make Chlamydia-type Kdo oligosaccharides which are attached to an E. coli lipid A. Using such strains expressing waaA of Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Chlamydophila psittaci, or Chlamydia trachomatis, we have studied the effect of E. coli waaC gene expression on LPS structure. Structural analyses revealed the formation of two novel oligosaccharides Hep-(1 --> 5)[Kdo-(2 --> 4)]-Kdo and Hep-(1 --> 5)[Kdo-(2 --> 8)-Kdo-(2 --> 4)]-Kdo showing that Hep is transferred in the presence of (2 --> 8)-linked Kdo. Surprisingly, the transfer of Hep onto Kdo-(2 --> 4)-Kdo-(2 --> 4)-Kdo did not occur, despite the fact that Hep-(1 --> 5)[Kdo-(2 --> 4)-Kdo-(2 --> 4)]-Kdo is found in nature as a partial structure of E. coli LPS. The premature end of the biosynthesis and incorporation of Hep into the LPS indicated that WaaC had access to the substrate before Kdo transfer was completed. We have observed differences between WaaA of C. trachomatis, C. pneumoniae and C. psittaci which indicate mechanistic differences between these Kdo transferases.

Topics: Carbohydrate Sequence; Chlamydia; Escherichia coli; Glycosyltransferases; Heptoses; Lipid A; Lipopolysaccharides; Molecular Sequence Data; Transferases

Lipooligosaccharide (LOS) is a critical virulence factor of Neisseria meningitidis. A Tn916 insertion mutant, designated 469, was found to exhibit a markedly truncated LOS of 2.9 kDa when compared by Tricine/SDS-PAGE to the parental LOS (4.6 kDa). Electrospray mass spectrometry analysis of 469 LOS revealed that it consisted of the deep rough, heptose-deficient structure, Kdo(2)-lipid A. Sequencing of chromosomal DNA flanking the Tn916 insertion in mutant 469 revealed that the transposon had inserted into an ORF predicted to encode a 187 aa protein with sequence homology to the histidinol-phosphate phosphatase domain of Escherichia coli HisB and to a family of genes of unknown function. The gene, designated gmhX, is part of a polycistronic operon (ice-2) containing two other genes, nlaB and orfC. nlaB encodes a lysophosphatidic-acid acyltransferase and orfC is predicted to encode a N-acetyltransferase. Specific polar and non-polar gmhX mutations in the parental strain, NMB, exhibited the truncated LOS structure of mutant 469, and repair of gmhX mutants by homologous recombination with the wild-type gmhX restored the LOS parental phenotype. GmhX mutants demonstrated increased sensitivity to polymyxin B. GmhX mutants and other Kdo(2)-lipid A mutants also demonstrated increased sensitivity to killing by normal human serum but were not as sensitive as inner-core mutants containing heptose. In the genomes of Helicobacter pylori and Synechocystis, gmhX homologues are associated with heptose biosynthesis genes; however, in N. meningitidis, gmhX was found in a location distinct from that of gmhA, rfaD, rfaE, aut and rfaC. GmhX is a novel enzyme required for the incorporation of L-glycero-D-manno-heptose into meningococcal LOS, and is a candidate for the 2-D-glycero-manno-heptose phosphatase of the heptose biosynthesis pathway.

Topics: Bacterial Proteins; DNA Transposable Elements; Genes, Bacterial; Heptoses; Lipid A; Lipopolysaccharides; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutagenesis, Insertional; Mutation; Neisseria meningitidis; Operon; Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases; Sequence Analysis, DNA

The lipopolysaccharides of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans strain Y4 and a human clinical isolate PO 1021-7 were examined by SDS/PAGE, deoxycholate/PAGE and mass spectrometry. PAGE analysis revealed an electrophoretic pattern similar to the SR-type lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Salmonella. Deoxycholate/PAGE indicated the LPS of A. actinomycetemcomitans to consist of short sugar chains. Chemical analysis revealed the presence of thiobarbituric-acid-positive material (3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid equivalents) and four neutral sugars: glucose, galactose, D-glycero-D-manno-heptose and L-glycero-D-manno-heptose. Phosphate, glucosamine, glycine, and the fatty acids, 3-hydroxymyristic acid, myristic acid and palmitic acid, comprised the remainder of the molecule. The structure of the free lipid A revealed it to consist of a 1,6-glucosamine disaccharide esterified at C4' by a phosphomonoester. The hydroxyl group at C3 and the amide group of the non-reducing glucosamine were both acylated by 3-myristoylmyristic acid; analogous sites on the reducing glucosamine were acylated by 3-hydroxymyristic acid. Hydroxyl groups at C4 and C6' in the free lipid A were unsubstituted, with C6 being the proposed attachment site of the polysaccharide moiety. Chemical analysis revealed the presence of glycine in the intact LPS; its exact location in the A. actinomycetemcomitans LPS is still to be determined. Both intact LPS and free lipid A were highly lethal to galactosamine-sensitized mice, comparable to that of Salmonella.

Topics: Actinobacillus; Animals; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Fatty Acids; Female; Galactose; Glucose; Heptoses; Lipid A; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Mass Spectrometry; Methylation; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Molecular Structure; Sugar Acids; Thiobarbiturates