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Infect. Immun., Dec 1997, 5035-5041, Vol 65, No. 12
JO Cisar, AL Sandberg, GP Reddy, C Abeygunawardana and CA Bush
Lectin-mediated interactions between oral viridans group streptococci and
actinomyces may play an important role in microbial colonization of the
tooth surface. The presence of two host-like motifs, either GalNAc
beta1-->3Gal (Gn) or Gal beta1-->3GalNAc (G), in the cell wall
polysaccharides of five streptococcal strains accounts for the lactose-
sensitive coaggregations of these bacteria with Actinomyces naeslundii.
Three streptococcal strains which have Gn-containing polysaccharides also
participate in GalNAc-sensitive coaggregations with strains of
Streptococcus gordonii and S. sanguis. Each Gn- or G-containing
polysaccharide is composed of a distinct phosphodiester-linked hexa- or
heptasaccharide repeating unit. The occurrence of these polysaccharides on
19 additional viridans group streptococcal strains that participate in
lactose-sensitive coaggregations with actinomyces was examined. Negatively
charged polysaccharides that reacted with Bauhinia purpurea agglutinin, a
Gal and GalNAc binding plant lectin, were isolated from 17 strains by anion
exchange column chromatography of mutanolysin-cell wall digests. Results
from nuclear magnetic resonance and immunodiffusion identified each of 16
polysaccharides as a known Gn- or G-containing structural type and one
polysaccharide as a new but closely related Gn-containing type. Unlike the
reactions of lectins, the cross-reactions of most rabbit antisera with
these polysaccharides were correlated with structural features other than
the host-like motifs. Gn-containing polysaccharides occurred primarily on
the strains of S. sanguis and S. oralis while G-containing polysaccharides
were more common among the strains of S. gordonii and S. mitis examined.
The findings strongly support the hypothesis that lectin-mediated
recognition of these streptococci by other oral bacteria depends on a
family of antigenically diverse Gn- and G-containing cell wall
polysaccharides, the occurrence of which may differ between streptococcal
species.
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology
Structural and antigenic types of cell wall polysaccharides from viridans group streptococci with receptors for oral actinomyces and streptococcal lectins
Oral Infection and Immunity Branch, National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. jcisar@yoda.nidr.nih.gov
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