The structure of the O-antigen in the endotoxin of the emerging food pathogen Cronobacter (Enterobacter) muytjensii strain 3270.

Strains of the Gram-negative bacterium Cronobacter (formerly known as Enterobacter) sakazakii have been identified as emerging opportunistic pathogens that can cause enterocolitis, bacteraemia, meningitis, and brain abscess, and they have been particularly associated with meningitis in neonates where infant milk formulae have been epidemiologically linked to the disease. A study of the lipopolysaccharides produced by clinical isolates using chemical, 2D 1H and 13C NMR, and MS methods revealed that the O-polysaccharide produced by Cronobacter muytjensii strain 3270, isolated from powdered infant formula from Denmark, was a linear unbranched polymer of a repeating pentasaccharide unit composed of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-galactose (d-GalNAc), 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucose (d-GlcNAc), 3-acetamido-3-deoxy-d-quinovose (d-Qui3NAc), l-rhamnose (l-Rha), and d-glucuronic acid (d-GlcA) in equimolar ratio, and has the structure -->3)-alpha-D-GalpNAc-(1-->4)-alpha-D-Quip3NAc-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->6)-alpha-D-GlcpNAc-(1-->4)-beta-D-GlcpA-(1--> The specific structural characteristics of the O-polysaccharides of C. muytjensii may be of value in the identification and tracking of the bacterial pathogen.