The type-specific polysaccharides of Streptococcus suis.

Streptococcus suis types 1 and 2 were subjected to digestion with lysozyme. Serologically type-specific capsular polysaccharides were isolated from the lysates by ethanol precipitation followed by Sepharose 6B chromatography. The purified type 1 polysaccharide has a Kd value of 0.074 on a Sepharose 4B column and contains galactose, glucose, N-acetyl glucosamine, N-acetyl galactosamine, and sialic acid in a molar ratio of 2.42:1.00:1.00:1.13:1.39. The type 2 polysaccharide has a Kd value of 0.185 and is composed of rhamnose, galactose, glucose, N-acetyl glucosamine, and sialic acid in a molar ratio of 1.07:3.17:1.00:0.94:1.00. A comparison is drawn between the type polysaccharides of S. suis and those of group B streptococci.