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Infect Immun. 1972 November; 6(5): 773-778
Copyright © 1972 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Physicochemical Properties of Neisseria meningitidis Group X Polysaccharide Antigen

¹ Department of Medicine, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14215
² Department of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois 60612

ABSTRACT

Neisseria meningitidis group X occurs in human carrier populations and is rarely implicated in serious disease. This organism possesses a capsular group antigen which is an acidic polysaccharide. It is composed of the amino sugars, glucosamine, glucosamine-6-phosphate, galactosamine, and the simple hexose, glucose. The group X capsular antigen has an S_20,w⁰ of 3.6, and the acidic nature of the polysaccharide is reflected in an isoelectric point of 3.65. The meningococcal A, B, C, and Y polysaccharide group antigens are also composed primarily of amino sugars. The chemical composition of the group X antigen most closely resembles the capsular antigen of N. meningitidis group Y, which is also predominately a carrier organism.