Investigations on polysaccharide components of cells of Herpetomonas samuelpessoai grown on various media

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Abstract
H. samuelpessoai, when cultured in various media, forms a linear .beta.-D-(1 .fwdarw. 2)-mannopyranan and a branched-chain glucuronoxylan containing D-glucopyranosyluronic acid nonreducing end units connected with .alpha.- and .beta.-linked D-xylopyranose units. Traces of amylose and .alpha.-linked mannopyranose moieties are present. Mannose-containing materials predominate over glucuronoxylan in cells grown with proline as the C source (medium C). In a medium with sucrose as the C source and complex supplements (medium A) the proportion of glucuronoxylan is greater, and when the supplements were all chemically defined (medium B), a galactose-containing component is also formed. Glucuronoxylan is liberated from cells with hot aqueous alkali and it could be freed from lower MW mannan by fractional precipation. Mannan was obtained as the only polymeric component, with lower MW homologs, by extraction of cells with hot water. In terms of ratios of component xylose, mannose and galactose, the flagella resemble whole cells. Flagella contain polysaccharide with .alpha.-D-linked mannopyranose side chains rather than .beta.-linked linear forms. These data are considered from standpoints of immunochemistry and EM.