Isolation and composition of oligosaccharide cores from endotoxins of two Serratia marcescens strains.

The oligosaccharide cores isolated from the acetic acid hydrolysates of endotoxins from Serratia marcescens 08 and Serratia marcescens Bizio were analyzed for their sugar composition. The intact oligosaccharide core from S. marcescens 08 consisted of 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate, d-glycero-d-mannoheptose, l-glycero-d-mannoheptose, d-glucose, d-galactose, and d-glucosamine in a molar ratio of 2:1:5:3:1:3 and that from S. marcescens Bizio consisted of the same sugar components in a molar ratio of 2:1:5:5:1:2. This result indicates that endotoxins from S. marcescens genus may contain more than one structural type of oligosaccharide core. Both oligosaccharide cores also differ in their chemical compositions from cores of other Enterobacteriaceae.