Hafnia alvei lipopolysaccharides: isolation, sugar composition and SDS-PAGE analysis.

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of 33 strains of Hafnia alvei were isolated and purified. LPS content of the dry bacterial mass ranged from 1.2 to 4.5%. All examined lipopolysaccharides contained glucose, glucosamine, heptose, 3-deoxy-octulosonic acid and often galactose. Rhamnose, mannose, galactosamine, mannosamine and unidentified amino sugars were found in some H. alvei strains. Sialic acid was present in LPS of one strain. D-3-Hydroxybutyryl groups also were identified in lipopolysaccharides of 5 strains of this genus. SDS-PAGE of the lipopolysaccharides was presented in the paper. According to these results two core types exist in H. alvei.