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Studies with Lectins on the Surface Carbohydrate Structures of Mycoplasma Membranes

Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, D-63 Giessen, Federal Republic of Germany

ABSTRACT

The surface carbohydrate structures on the cell membranes of various mycoplasma species have been investigated by using lectins, which are sugar-specific proteins. Carbohydrate structures presumably bound to glycolipids, with both galactose and glucose units, were found to be exposed on the surface of Mycoplasma pneumoniae and its temperature-sensitive mutants, M. mycoides var. mycoides and capri, M. pulmonis, M. gallinarum, and M. gallisepticum. Lipid-bound glucose was found on M. neurolyticum. The possible relationship of the lipid-bound surface carbohydrate groups to the known serological cross-reactions and lipid compositions of the various mycoplasma species is discussed. Intact Acholeplasma laidlawii and M. fermentans have no lectin-binding sites exposed on their surfaces; galactose groups were discovered only after Pronase digestion of the organisms, suggesting that their glycolipids are hidden under a protein layer. Neither intact nor Pronase-digested M. hominis reacted with the lectins; this is fully consistent with the lipid composition of this organism, which contains glycolipids. The lectins from Vicia cracca and Phaseolus vulgaris, which react with N-acetyl-galactosamine groups, agglutinated M. gallinarum, M. gallisepticum, M. mycoides var. capri, and M. pulmonis. The agglutinability was lost after Pronase treatment, indicating that the corresponding carbohydrates are presumably protein bound. They may be correlated with the extracellular structures observed by electron microscopy of both sectioned and negatively stained mycoplasma species.