The glucosidic linkages of the Shigella flexneri polysaccharides

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Abstract
Lipopolysaccharides were extracted from 8 S. flexneri serotypes with aqueous phenol. The lipopolysaccharides were hydrolyzed with dilute acetic acid and the specific degraded polysaccharides recovered by ethanol precipitation after removal of traces of insoluble protein by centrifuging and of lipid by ether extraction. The homogeneity of the polysaccharides was studied in the analytical ultracentrifuge and by electrophoretic and serological techniques. The infrared spectra of polysaccharides from the 8 types were so similar that differentiation of the serotypes by this method was not possible. All contained absorption peaks which are consistent with the presence of [alpha]-l[forward arrow]6-glucosidic linkages. Inhibition of the same sera with isolichenin suggests the probable presence of [alpha]-l[forward arrow]3-glucosidic bonds.