Structural studies on the acidic polysaccharide of Bacillus cereus AHU 1356 cell walls

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Abstract
Structural studies were carried out on the acidic polymer fraction isolated from lysozyme digests of the N‐acetylated cell walls of Bacillus cereus AHU 1356. The acidic polymer fraction contained glucosamine, galactose, rhamnose, glycerol and phosphorus in a molar ratio of 1:1:2:1:1, together with small amounts of glycopeptide components and muramic acid 6‐phosphate. The hydrogen fluoride treatment led to removal of glycerol and phosphorus from the polymer without loss of other components. Results of the NaIO4 oxidation, methylation and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the native and dephosphorylated preparations, in combination with data of the analysis of oligosaccharides obtained from partial hydrolysis of the polysaccharide, led to the most likely structure of the repeating units of the acidic polysaccharide chain, →4) N‐acetylglucsaminyl‐(α1 →3)rhamnosyl(α1 →3)galactosyl(α1 →4)[sn‐glycerol 1‐phospho‐2]rhamnosyl(α 1→.