Purification and characterization of Staphylococcus aureus type 8 capsular polysaccharide

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Abstract
Clinical isolates of S. aureus were previously classified into 8 types on the basis of their capsular polysaccharide. The high prevalence of the type 8 capsular polysaccharide among bacteremic isolates suggests the importance of this capsular antigen in staphylococcal disease. The capsular polysaccharide was purified from extracts of 3 clinical isolates of S. aureus type 8 of different geographic and temperal origin by ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. Gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and 13C-NMR showed that the type 8 capsular polysaccharide is composed of O-acetyl groups, N-acetylfucosamine and an aminouronic acid similar to N-acetylgalactosaminouronic acid. The purified polysaccharide reacted only with type 8 antiserum in double diffusion experiments. Thus, the type 8 polysaccharide is both chemically and serologically distinct from teichoic acid and previously characterized polysaccharides of S. aureus.

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