Báo cáo khoa học: Structures of the O-polysaccharides and classification of Proteus genomospecies 4, 5 and 6 into respective Proteus serogroups ppt

Structures of the O-polysaccharides and classification of
Proteus genomospecies 4, 5 and 6 into respective Proteus
serogroups
Krystyna Zych
1
, Andrei V. Perepelov
2
, Małgorzata Siwin
ˇ
ska
1
, Yuriy A. Knirel
2
and
Zygmunt Sidorczyk
1
1 Department of General Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Ło
´
dz
´
, Poland
2 N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation
Gram-negative bacteria of the genus Proteus are com-
mon in human and animal intestines but under favour-
able conditions they cause infections of wounds, burns,
skin, eyes, ears, nose and throat, as well as intestinal
and urinary tract infections. The last illness can lead to
severe complications, such as acute or chronic pyelone-
phritis and formation of bladder and kidney stones. In
the genus Proteus there are four clinically important
named species: P. mirabilis, P. vulgaris, P. penneri and

P. hauseri as well as three unnamed Proteus genomo-
species 4, 5 and 6 [1].
The outer membrane lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a
somatic antigen and is considered to be one of the
most important potential virulence factors of Proteus
[2]. The serological O-specificity of Gram-negative
bacteria is defined by the structure of the polysaccha-
ride chain of LPS (O-antigen). Based on the somatic
antigens, two Proteus species: P. mirabilis and P. vul-
garis, have been classified into 49 O-serogroups [3].
This classification, however, does not include two
groups of P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris representatives
(totally 20 strains), which were described later [4,5] or
Keywords
Proteus; O-antigen; O-serogroup; serological
classification; 3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxy-
D-glucose
Correspondence
Z. Sidorczyk, Department of General
Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology and
Immunology, University of Ło
´
dz
´
, Banacha
12 ⁄ 16, 90–237 Lo
´
dz, Poland
Tel: +48 42 6354467
Fax: +48 42 6655818

E-mail:
(Received 16 May 2005, revised 30 August
2005, accepted 5 September 2005)
doi:10.1111/j.1742-4658.2005.04958.x
An acidic branched O-polysaccharide was isolated by mild acid degrada-
tion of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Proteus genomospecies 4 and stud-
ied by sugar and methylation analyses along with
1
H and
13
C NMR
spectroscopy, including 2D COSY, TOCSY, ROESY and H-detected
1
H,
13
C HSQC experiments. The following structure of the pentasaccharide
repeating unit of the O-polysaccharide was established, which is unique
among Proteus polysaccharide structures:
where Qui3NAc stands for 3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxyglucose. Based on the
O-polysaccharide structure and serological data, we propose classifying
Proteus genomospecies 4 into a new, separate Proteus serogroup, O56. A
weak cross-reactivity of Proteus genomospecies 4 antiserum with LPS of
Providencia stuartii O18 and Proteus vulgaris OX2 was observed and is dis-
cussed in view of a similarity of the O-polysaccharide structures. Structural
and serological investigations showed that Proteus genomospecies 5 and 6
should be classified into the existing Proteus serogroups O8 and O69,
respectively.
Abbreviations
EIA, enzyme immunosorbent assay; GalA, galacturonic acid; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; PIH, passive immunohemolysis test; Qui3NAc,
3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxyglucose.

5536 FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 5536–5543 ª 2005 FEBS
two other recognized medically important species,
P. penneri and P. hauseri, nor Proteus genomospecies
4, 5 and 6 [6–9]. Previously, as a result of the chemical
and serological studies of LPS, a number of new Pro-
teus serogroups were proposed for P. penneri strains
[9,10]. Here we report on the structure of the O-specific
polysaccharide from LPS of Proteus genomospecies 4
and propose to classify this strain into a new Proteus
serogroup O56. We found also that Proteus genomo-
species 5 and 6 should be classified into the existing
Proteus serogroups O8 and O69, respectively.
Results and Discussion
Structural studies
The O-polysaccharide was obtained by mild acid degra-
dation of the LPS, isolated from dried cells by the
phenol ⁄ water procedure, and separated from lower
molecular mass substances, including a core oligosac-
charide, by Sephadex G-50 gel-permeation chromato-
graphy. Sugar analyses by GLC of the alditol acetates
derived after full acid hydrolysis of the polysaccharide
revealed Glc, GlcN, GalN and 3-amino-3,6-dideoxyglu-
cose (Qui3N) in the ratio 1 : 0.7 : 1 : 0.6. In addition,
GLC analysis of the acetylated methyl glycosides
showed the presence of GalA. GLC analyses of the
acetylated (S)-2-(+)-butyl glycosides demonstrated the
d configuration of Glc, GlcN, GalN, and GalA. The d
configuration of Qui3N was established by the analysis
of the
13

C-NMR chemical shifts of the polysaccharide
using the known regularities in glycosylation effects [11].
The
13
C NMR spectrum of the polysaccharide
(Fig. 1) contained signals for five anomeric carbons at
d 97.6, 98.1, 102.5, 104.0 and 104.3, three OCH
2
-C
groups (C6 of Glc, GalN, and GlcN) at d 61.7, 62.3,
and 69.9 [data of a distortionless enhancement of polari-
zation transfer (DEPT) experiment], one CH
3
-C group
(C6 of Qui3N) at d 19.8, one COOH group (C6 of
GalA) at d 174.3, three nitrogen-bearing carbons (C2 of
GlcN and GalN and C3 of Qui3N) at d 49.0–58.0, 17
oxygen-bearing ring carbons in the region d 68.8–81.8,
and three N-acetyl groups at d 23.4–23.8 (CH
3
) and
175.1–176.0 (CO). Accordingly, the
1
H NMR spectrum
of the polysaccharide contained signals of equal inten-
sity for five anomeric protons at d 4.52, 4.53, 4.74, 5.21
and 5.24 as well as signals for one CH
3
-C group (H6 of
Qui3N) at d 1.36, three N-acetyl groups at d 1.98–2.05,

and other signals at d 3.27–4.36. These data indicate
that the polysaccharide has a regular structure with a
pentasaccharide repeating unit.
Methylation analysis of the polysaccharide, including
GLC of partially methylated alditol acetates, resulted in
the identification of the derivatives of terminal Glc,
3-substituted GalNAc, 6-substituted GlcNAc and
4-substituted Qui3NAc in the ratio 0.9 : 1 : 1 : 0.9.
When the methylated polysaccharide was carboxyl-
reduced prior to hydrolysis, 3-O-methylgalactose was
identified in addition to the sugars mentioned above,
which was evidently derived from 2,4-disubstituted
GalA. Therefore, the O-polysaccharide has a branched
pentasaccharide repeating unit containing terminal
d-Glc, 3-substituted d-GalNAc, 6-substituted d-GlcNAc,
4-substituted d-Qui3NAc, and 2,4-disubstituted d-GalA.
Fig. 1. 125-MHz
13
C-NMR spectrum of the O-polysaccharide of Proteus genomospecies 4. Arabic numerals refer to carbon positions in
sugar residues.
K. Zych et al. O-polysaccharides of Proteus genomospecies
FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 5536–5543 ª 2005 FEBS 5537
The
1
H- and
13
C-NMR spectra of the O-polysaccha-
ride were assigned using 2D COSY, TOCSY, ROESY,
H-detected
1

H,
13
C HSQC and HMBC experiments
(Table 1). The spin systems for GalA and Qui3NAc were
identified by correlations of H1 with H2-H5 and H2-H6,
respectively, in the TOCSY spectrum and with H3,H5 in
the ROESY spectrum. Correlations of H1 with H2-H6
in the TOCSY spectrum demonstrated Glc and GlcNAc.
GalNAc showed correlations for H1 with H2-H4 in the
TOCSY spectrum and H4 with H5,H6 in the ROESY
spectrum. The carbonyl signal of GalA was distinguished
by an H5 ⁄ C6 correlation in the HMBC spectrum.
J
1,2
coupling constant values of  3 Hz indicated
that GalNAc and Glc are a-linked, whereas J
1,2
-values
of 7–8 Hz showed that Qui3NAc, GlcNAc, and GalA
are b-linked. The pyranose form of all monosaccharide
residues originated from the absence from the
13
C-NMR spectrum of any signals for nonanomeric
ring carbons at a field lower than d 82 [12].
A relatively low-field position of the signals for C6
of GlcNAc (d 69.9), C3 of GalNAc (d 77.5), C4 of
Qui3NAc (d 77.5) as well as C2 and C4 of GalA
(d 77.2 and 81.8, respectively), as compared with their
position in the corresponding nonsubstituted monosac-
charides [13,14], demonstrated the modes of glycosyla-

tion of the constituent sugar residues.
A ROESY experiment (Fig. 2) revealed interresidue
cross-peaks between the anomeric protons and glyco-
sidically linked protons, which were assigned to
Qui3NAc H1 ⁄ GlcNAc H6a and H6b (d 4.52 ⁄ 3.90
and 4.17); GlcNAc H1 ⁄ GalA H4 (d 4.53 ⁄ 3.80);
GalA H1 ⁄ GalNAc H3 (d 4.74 ⁄ 4.25); GalNAc
H1 ⁄ Qui3NAc H4 (d 5.24 ⁄ 3.52); and Glc H1⁄ GalA
H2 (d 5.21 ⁄ 3.54) correlations. In accordance with the
ROESY data, the HMBC experiment showed the
following inter-residue cross-peaks between the atoms
separated by three bonds: Qui3NAc H1 ⁄ GlcNAc C6
(d 4.52 ⁄ 69.9); GlcNAc H1 ⁄ GalA C4 (d 4.53⁄ 81.8);
GalA H1 ⁄ GalNAc C3 (d 4.74 ⁄ 77.5); GalNAc C1 ⁄ Qui3-
NAc H4 ( d 97.6 ⁄ 3.52) and Glc C1 ⁄ GalA H2 (d
98.1 ⁄ 3.54). These data were in agreement also with the
glycosylation pattern determined from methylation and
13
C-NMR chemical shift data (see above) and defined
the monosaccharide sequence in the repeating unit.
Therefore, it was concluded that the O-polysaccharide
of Proteus genomospecies 4 has the structure:
The O-polysaccharide has a unique structure among
Proteus polysaccharides and is distinguished by the
presence of 3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxy-d-glucose. While
this is a rarely occurring component, it was found in
several other bacterial polysaccharides [15], including
O-polysaccharides of Proteus [16].
Studies of the O-polysaccharides of Proteus genomo-
species 5 and 6 and the comparison of the correspond-

ing
13
C NMR spectra indicated that they are identical
to those of P. vulgaris O8 [17] and P. penneri 25 (O69)
[18], respectively.
Table 1.
1
H- and
13
C-NMR data of the polysaccharide of Proteus genomospecies 4 (d, p.p.m). The chemical shifts for the N-acetyl groups
are d
H
1.98, 2.04 and 2.05; d
C
23.4, 23.6, 23.8 (all Me), 175.1, 175.3 and 176.0 (all CO).
Sugar residue Nucleus
Atom number
1 2 3 4 5 6 (6a,6b)
fi4)-b-
D-Quip3NAc-(1fi
1
H 4.52 3.27 4.05 3.52 3.68 1.36
13
C 104.3 73.5 58.0 77.5 73.5 19.8
fi6)-b-
D-GlcpNAc-(1fi
1
H 4.53 3.69 3.54 3.56 3.59 3.90, 4.17
13
C 102.5 56.6 74.9 70.7 75.7 69.9

fi2,4)-b-
D-GalpA-(1fi
1
H 4.74 3.54 3.71 3.80 3.85
13
C 104.0 77.2 74.1 81.8 76.5 174.3
fi3)-a-
D-GalpNAc-(1fi
1
H 5.24 4.36 4.25 4.23 4.29 3.73
13
C 97.6 49.0 77.5 68.8 72.4 62.3
a-
D-Glcp-(1fi
1
H 5.21 3.53 3.74 3.45 4.20 3.66, 3.87
13
C 98.1 72.9 74.1 70.6 73.0 61.7
O-polysaccharides of Proteus genomospecies K. Zych et al.
5538 FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 5536–5543 ª 2005 FEBS
In particular, the
13
C NMR spectrum of Proteus
genomospecies 5 contained signals for four anomeric
carbons at d 99.3, 99.8, 102.4 and 105.1 (d 99.6,
100.0, 102.5 and 105.3 in P. vulgaris O8), two OCH
2
-C
groups at d 62.2 and 63.3 (d 62.4 and 63.4 in P. vul-
garis O8), two nitrogen-bearing carbons at d 50.4 and

55.4 (d 50.6 and 55.5 in P. vulgaris O8), one CH
3
-C
group at d 16.6 (d 16.7 in P. vulgaris O8), one COOH
group at d (d 173.5 in P. vulgaris O8), two N-acetyl
groups at d 23.5 and 23.8 (CH
3
; 23.7 and 23.9 in
P. vulgaris O8) and 176.1 and 176.2 (CO; 176.2 and
176.3 in P. vulgaris O8) as well as 12 other oxygen-
bearing ring carbons in the region d 69.6–84.0 (d 69.7–
84.2 in P. vulgaris O8).
Similarly, the
13
C NMR spectrum of the O-deacetyl-
ated polysaccharide of Proteus genomospecies 6 con-
tained signals for four anomeric carbons at d 102.2,
102.3, 102.9 and 104.1 (d 101.9, 102.0, 102.7 and 104.0
in P. penneri 25), two OCH
2
-C groups at d 61.8 and
68.7 (d 61.9 and 68.8 in P. penneri 25), two nitrogen-
bearing carbons at d 55.4 and 56.1 (d 55.3 and 56.0
in P. penneri 25), two COOH groups at d 174.6 and
175.7 (d 174.9 and 176.0 in P. penneri 25), one N-ace-
tyl group at d 23.6 (CH
3
; 23.7 in P. penneri 25) and
175.7 (CO; 175.7 in P. penneri 25), 14 other oxygen-
bearing ring carbons in the region d 69.6–84.0

(d 69.7–84.2 in P. penneri 25) as well as signals for
alanine at d 172.5, 50.8 and 17.7 (d 172.5, 50.8 and
17.6 in P. penneri 25).
Serological studies
Serological investigations were performed using LPS-
specific rabbit polyclonal antisera against strains of
Proteus genomospecies 4, 5 and 6. They were tested
with LPS of a number of Proteus strains with known
O-polysaccharide structure in passive immunohemoly-
sis (PIH). In addition, LPS of Providencia stuartii O18
was investigated in order to confirm the serological
relatedness between this bacterium and Proteus
genomospecies 4 reported earlier [19].
From 92 tested Proteus lipopolysaccharides, inclu-
ding those of 27 strains of P. vulgaris, 39 strains of
P. mirabilis, 24 strains of P. penneri, one strain of
P. myxofaciens, one strain of P. hauseri and Providen-
cia stuartii O18, only LPS of P. vulgaris OX2 and
Fig. 2. Part of a 2D ROESY spectrum of the
polysaccharide of Proteus genomospecies
4. The corresponding parts of the
1
H-NMR
spectrum are displayed along the axes. Ara-
bic numerals refer to proton positions in
sugar residues.
K. Zych et al. O-polysaccharides of Proteus genomospecies
FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 5536–5543 ª 2005 FEBS 5539
Providencia stuartii O18 cross-reacted with Proteus
genomospecies 4 antiserum. As opposed to the reac-

tion of Proteus genomospecies 4 antiserum with the
homologous LPS (1 : 51 200), the cross-reactions were
rather weak (1 : 1600 and 1 : 6400, respectively). Their
specificity was confirmed using enzyme immunosorbent
assay (EIA) (Fig. 3A) (1 : 256 000, 1 : 8000 and
1 : 32 000, respectively) and inhibition of the reaction
in both PIH and EIA. Again, the homologous LPS
was a strong inhibitor (1–4 ng) whereas the inhibiting
activity of the cross-reactive antigens was significantly
weaker (1250–5000 ng).
The antigens studied were tested in PIH with
Proteus genomospecies 4 antiserum, which was
absorbed with the respective LPS. The reactivity of
antiserum against Proteus genomospecies 4 with all
tested antigens was completely abolished when it was
absorbed with the homologous LPS. Absorption with
LPS of either Providencia stuartii O18 or P. vulgaris
OX2 removed antibodies to the corresponding cross-
reactive LPS but influenced the reactivity with the
homologous LPS insignificantly. Hence, cross-reactive
is only a minor population of antibodies.
In western blot (SDS ⁄ PAGE separation of the investi-
gated LPSs also presented on Fig. 4A), Proteus
genomospecies 4 antiserum (Fig. 4. B) strongly reacted
with slow migrating bands of the homologous LPS and
that of Providencia stuartii O18. These and absorption
data suggest that the antiserum contains both major
O-polysaccharide-specific antibodies, which recognize
an epitope on the homologous O-antigen, and a minor
population of antibodies, which react with a common

epitope on the O-antigen of Proteus genomospecies 4
and Providencia stuartii O18. In addition, Proteus ge-
nomospecies 4 antiserum recognized fast migrating LPS
bands of the two bacteria as well as those of P. vulgaris
OX2; these correspond to the LPS core with no O-poly-
saccharide attached. Therefore, there are also LPS
core-specific cross-reactive antibodies, which recognize
different epitopes on the Providencia stuartii O18 and
P. vulgaris OX2 LPS, as followed from combined
western blot and absorption data.
Serological relatedness of Proteus genomospecies 4
and Providencia stuartii O18 demonstrated in this
work is in agreement with the cross-reactivity of LPS
of the Proteus strain with anti-Providencia stuartii
O18 serum [19]. Comparison of the O-polysaccharide
structures of Proteus genomospecies 4 and Providencia
stuartii O18 showed that they share a b-d-Quip3NAc-
(1 fi 6)-d-GlcNAc disaccharide fragment (a),
which, most likely, occupies the nonreducing end of
the polysaccharide chain (Fig. 5). Moreover, the
O-polysaccharides possess also a common interior
a-d-GalpNAc-(1 fi 4)-b-d-Quip3NAc-(1 fi 6)-d-Glc NAc
trisaccharides fragment (b), and both common features
seem to be responsible for the cross-reactivity of these
strains. Proteus vulgaris OX2 has no similarities with
Proteus genomospecies 4 in O-antigen structure [20],
which is consistent with the western blot data showing
the absence of any common epitope on the O-polysac-
charides (Fig. 4B).
Based on the results of serological studies and the

uniqueness of the O-polysaccharide structure we pro-
pose classifying Proteus genomospecies 4 into a new
Proteus serogroup, O56, in which at present this strain
is the single representative.
In PIH and EIA LPS from P. vulgaris O8 cross-
reacted with Proteus genomospecies 5 antiserum
(Fig. 3B) and that from P. penneri O69 with Proteus
genomospecies 6 antiserum (Fig. 3C), the cross-reac-
tions being almost identical to the reactions of the
homologous LPS (1 : 51 200). Inhibition of the reac-
Fig. 3. EIA binding curves of Proteus genomospecies 4 (A), 5 (B)
and 6 (C) antisera to the investigated LPS.
O-polysaccharides of Proteus genomospecies K. Zych et al.
5540 FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 5536–5543 ª 2005 FEBS
tions in both PIH and EIA was also very strong and
similar (1–2 ng), indicating a high level of serological
relatedness between the two pairs of bacteria. The
reactivity of both Proteus genomospecies 5 and 6 anti-
sera was completely abolished by absorption with the
respective homologous and cross-reactive antigens. In
western blot, Proteus genomospecies 5 and 6 antisera
(Fig. 4C,D) reacted similarly with both homologous
and heterologous P. vulgaris O8 and P. penneri O69
LPS, respectively. The reactions were strong with slow
migrating LPS bands and weaker with fast migrating
bands, which correspond to the LPS core with and
without the O-polysaccharide, respectively.
The serological data obtained and the identity of the
O-polysaccharide structures showed that Proteus
genomospecies 5 and 6 strains should be classified into

the existing Proteus serogroups O8 and O69 [17,18,21],
respectively.
ABCD
Fig. 4. SDS ⁄ PAGE (A) and western blot of Proteus genomospecies 4 (B), 5 (C) and 6 (D) antisera with LPS from investigated strains. Abbre-
viations: P.s., Providencia stuartii; P.g., Proteus genomospecies; P.p., P. penneri; P.v., P. vulgaris. The antisera were diluted in blotting buffer
(1 : 300); 3–5 ng LPS were applied per lane. Concentration of acrylamide in the gel was 12%.
Fig. 5. Structures of the O-polysaccharides of cross-reactive bac-
teria Proteus genomospecies 4 (this work), Providencia stuartii O18
[19] and P. vulgaris OX2 [20].
K. Zych et al. O-polysaccharides of Proteus genomospecies
FEBS Journal 272 (2005) 5536–5543 ª 2005 FEBS 5541
Experimental procedures
Bacterial strains and growth
Proteus genomospecies 4 (ATCC 51469), 5 (ATCC
51470), 6 (ATCC 51471), P. hauseri (ATCC 700826) and 24
P. penneri strains were kindly provided by C. M. O’Hara
and D. J. Brenner (Centres for Disease Control and Preven-
tion, Atlanta, GA, USA). Thirty-nine strains of P. mirabilis
and 27 P. vulgaris strains were from the Czech National
Collection of Type Cultures (CNCTC, National Institute of
Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic). Proteus myxofac-
iens strain (CCUG 18769) was kindly provided by E. Fal-
sen [Cultures Collection, University of Goeteborg (CCUG),
Goeteborg, Sweden] and Providencia stuartii O18 was from
the Hungarian National Collection of Medical Bacteria
(National Institute of Hygiene, Budapest, Hungary). Dry
bacterial mass was obtained from aerated culture as des-
cribed previously [22].
Isolation and degradation of lipopolysaccharide
Lipopolysaccharides were obtained by extraction of bacter-

ial mass with a hot phenol ⁄ water mixture [23] and purified
by treatment with aqueous 50% (v ⁄ v) CCl
3
CO
2
Hat4°C
followed by dialysis of the supernatant. Alkali-treated LPS
were prepared by saponification of LPS with 0.25 m NaOH
(56 °C, 2 h) followed by precipitation with ethanol.
Acid degradation of Proteus genomospecies 4 LPS
(226 mg) was performed with aqueous 2% HOAc at 100 °C
until lipid A precipitation. The precipitate was removed by
centrifugation (13 000 g, 20 min), and the supernatant was
fractionated on a column (56 · 2.6 cm) of Sephadex G-50
(Pharmacia, Fairfield, CT, USA) in 0.05 m pyridinium acet-
ate buffer, pH 4.5, monitored using a Knauer differential
refractometer (Berlin, Germany). A high-molecular mass
polysaccharide was obtained in a yield of  10% of the LPS
weight. All experiments followed 36 ⁄ 609 EEC guidelines.
Rabbit antiserum and serological assays
Polyclonal LPS-specific antisera were obtained in a stand-
ard procedures by immunization of New Zealand white
rabbits (two for one bacterial strain) with heat-inactivated
(100 °C, 2,5 h) bacteria of Proteus genomospecies 4, 5 and
6, as described previously [24]. Passive immunohemolysis,
absorption, EIA and inhibition experiments as well as
SDS ⁄ PAGE and western blot were carried out as described
[24]. Lipopolysaccharide (EIA) or alkali-treated LPS (PIH)
were used as antigens.
Sugar analyses

The polysaccharide was hydrolysed with 2 m CF
3
CO
2
H
(120 °C, 2 h), monosaccharides were reduced with 0.25 m
NaBH
4
in 1 m ammonia (20 °C, 1 h), acetylated with a
1:1 (v⁄ v) mixture of pyridine and acetic anhydride
(120 °C, 30 min) and analysed by GLC, using a Hewlett-
Packard 5890 Series II instrument, equipped with a DB-
225 capillary column (30 m · 0.25 mm) and a temperature
gradient 170–180 °Cat1°CÆmin
)1
and then 180–230 °C
at 7 °CÆmin
)1
. Methanolysis of the polysaccharide (1 mg)
was performed with 1 m HCl in MeOH (85 °C, 16 h) and
was followed by acetylation and GLC analysis as des-
cribed above. The absolute configuration of the mono-
saccharides was determined by GLC of the acetylated
(S)-(+)-2-butyl glycosides according to the published
method [25].
Methylation analysis
Methylation of the polysaccharide was performed with
CH
3
I in dimethylsulfoxide in the presence of sodium meth-

ylsulfinylmethanide [26]. A portion of the methylated poly-
saccharide was reduced with LiBH
4
in 70% (v ⁄ v) aqueous
2-propanol (20 °C, 16 h). Partially methylated monosaccha-
rides were derived by hydrolysis under the same conditions
as in sugar analysis, reduced with NaBH
4
or NaBD
4
, acet-
ylated and analysed by GLC-MS using a Trace GC 2000
instrument and a temperature gradient 150–250 °Cat
10 °CÆ min
)1
.
NMR spectroscopy
NMR spectra were recorded on a Bruker DRX-500 spec-
trometer (Karlsruhe, Germany) for a solution in D
2
Oat
40 °C using internal acetone (d
H
2.225 p.p.m., d
C
31.45 p.p.m.) as reference. Prior to the measurements, sam-
ples were deuterium-exchanged by freeze-drying twice from
D
2
O. Bruker software xwinnmr 2.1 was used to acquire

and process the NMR data. A mixing time of 200 and
300 ms was used in two-dimensional TOCSY and ROESY
experiments, respectively. The other parameters used for
2D experiments were essentially the same as described
previously [27].
Acknowledgements
The work was supported by the following grants: Uni-
versity of Lodz (grant 801), 02-04-48767 of the Russian
Foundation for Basic Research, RFMK-226.2003.03
and RF State Contract RI–112 ⁄ 001 ⁄ 272.
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