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Infect Immun, March 1998, p. 923-926, Vol. 66, No. 3
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Structural Properties of Lipopolysaccharides from Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia prowazekii and Their Chemical Similarity to the Lipopolysaccharide from Proteus vulgaris OX19 Used in the Weil-Felix Test

Ken-ichi Amano,1,* Jim C. Williams,1,2,dagger and Gregory A. Dasch3

Rickettsial Diseases Laboratory, Airborne Diseases Division, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland 21701-50111; Office of the Scientific Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland 202042; and Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 200143

Received 20 October 1997/Returned for modification 12 December 1997/Accepted 31 December 1997

The lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) isolated from typhus group (TG) rickettsiae Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia prowazekii were characterized by chemical analysis and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) followed by silver staining. LPSs from two species of TG rickettsiae contained glucose, 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid, glucosamine, quinovosamine, phosphate, and fatty acids (beta -hydroxylmyristic acid and heneicosanoic acid) but not heptose. The O-polysaccharides of these LPSs were composed of glucose, glucosamine, quinovosamine, and phosphorylated hexosamine. Resolution of these LPSs by their apparent molecular masses by SDS-PAGE showed that they have a common ladder-like pattern. Based on the results of chemical composition and SDS-PAGE pattern, we suggest that these LPSs act as group-specific antigens. Furthermore, glucosamine, quinovosamine, and phosphorylated hexosamine were also found in the O-polysaccharide of the LPS from Proteus vulgaris OX19 used in the Weil-Felix test, suggesting that they may represent the antigens common to LPSs from TG rickettsiae and P. vulgaris OX19.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Central Research Laboratory, Akita University School of Medicine, Hondo 1-1-1, Akita 010, Japan. Phone: 81-188-33-1166, ext. 3151. Fax: 81-188-37-4398. E-mail: amanocrl{at}med.akita-u.ac.jp.

dagger Present address: Connaught Laboratories, Inc., Regulatory Affairs Department, Swiftwater, PA 18370.




This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Fang, R., Houhamdi, L., Raoult, D. (2002). Detection of Rickettsia prowazekii in Body Lice and Their Feces by Using Monoclonal Antibodies. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 3358-3363 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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