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Journal of Bacteriology, September 2009, p. 5499-5509, Vol. 191, No. 17
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00121-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Structure of Compositionally Simple Lipopolysaccharide from Marine Synechococcus{triangledown}

D. Scott Snyder,1 Bianca Brahamsha,2 Parastoo Azadi,1* and Brian Palenik2*

Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, Athens, Georgia 30602-4712,1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-02022

Received 29 January 2009/ Accepted 24 June 2009

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the first defense against changing environmental factors for many bacteria. Here, we report the first structure of the LPS from cyanobacteria based on two strains of marine Synechococcus, WH8102 and CC9311. While enteric LPS contains some of the most complex carbohydrate residues in nature, the full-length versions of these cyanobacterial LPSs have neither heptose nor 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (Kdo) but instead 4-linked glucose as their main saccharide component, with low levels of glucosamine and galacturonic acid also present. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry of the intact minimal core LPS reveals triacylated and tetraacylated structures having a heterogeneous mix of both hydroxylated and nonhydroxylated fatty acids connected to the diglucosamine backbone and a predominantly glucose outer core-like region for both strains. WH8102 incorporated rhamnose in this region as well, contributing to differences in sugar composition and possibly nutritional differences between the strains. In contrast to enteric lipid A, which can be liberated from LPS by mild acid hydrolysis, lipid A from these organisms could be produced by only two novel procedures: triethylamine-assisted periodate oxidation and acetolysis. The lipid A contains odd-chain hydroxylated fatty acids, lacks phosphate, and contains a single galacturonic acid. The LPS lacks any limulus amoebocyte lysate gelation activity. The highly simplified nature of LPSs from these organisms leads us to believe that they may represent either a primordial structure or an adaptation to the relatively higher salt and potentially growth-limiting phosphate levels in marine environments.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address for Brian Palenik: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202. Phone and fax: (858) 534-7505. E-mail: bpalenik{at}ucsd.edu. Mailing address for Parastoo Azadi (structural methods): Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, Athens, GA 30602-4712. Phone: (706) 583-0629. Fax: (706) 542-4412. E-mail: azadi{at}ccrc.uga.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 6 July 2009.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 2009, p. 5499-5509, Vol. 191, No. 17
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00121-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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