Temperature-dependent variations and intraspecies diversity of the structure of the lipopolysaccharide of Yersinia pestis.

Yersinia pestis spread throughout the Americas in the early 20th century, and it occurs predominantly as a single clone within this part of the world. However, within Eurasia and parts of Africa there is significant diversity among Y. pestis strains, which can be classified into different biovars (bv.) and/or subspecies (ssp.), with bv. orientalis/ssp. pestis most closely related to the American clone. To determine one aspect of the relatedness of these different Y. pestis isolates, the structure of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of four wild-type and one LPS-mutant Eurasian/African strains of Y. pestis was determined, evaluating effects of growth at mammalian (37 degrees C) or flea (25 degrees C) temperatures on the structure and composition of the core oligosaccharide and lipid A. In the wild-type clones of ssp. pestis, a single major core glycoform was synthesized at 37 degrees C whereas multiple core oligosaccharide glycoforms were produced at 25 degrees C. Structural differences occurred primarily in the terminal monosaccharides. Only tetraacyl lipid A was made at 37 degrees C, whereas at 25 degrees C additional pentaacyl and hexaacyl lipid A structures were produced. 4-Amino-4-deoxyarabinose levels in lipid A increased with lower growth temperatures or when bacteria were cultured in the presence of polymyxin B. In Y. pestis ssp. caucasica, the LPS core lacked D-glycero-D-manno-heptose and the content of 4-amino-4-deoxyarabinose showed no dependence on growth temperature, whereas the degree of acylation of the lipid A and the structure of the oligosaccharide core were temperature dependent. A spontaneous deep-rough LPS mutant strain possessed only a disaccharide core and a slightly variant lipid A. The diversity and differences in the structure of the Y. pestis LPS suggest important contributions of these variations to the pathogenesis of this organism, potentially related to innate and acquired immune recognition of Y. pestis and epidemiologic means to detect, classify, control and respond to Y. pestis infections.

The core structure of the lipopolysaccharide from the causative agent of plague, Yersinia pestis.

The rough-type lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the plague pathogen, Yersinia pestis, was studied after mild-acid and strong-alkaline degradations by chemical analyses, NMR spectroscopy and electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry, and the following structure of the core region was determined:where L-alpha-D-Hep stands for L-glycero-alpha-D-manno-heptose, Sug1 for either 3-deoxy-alpha-D-manno-oct-2-ulosonic acid (alpha-Kdo) or D-glycero-alpha-D-talo-oct-2-ulosonic acid (alpha-Ko), and Sug2 for either beta-D-galactose or D-glycero-alpha-D-manno-heptose. A minority of the LPS molecules lacks GlcNAc.