Common lipopolysaccharide specificity: new type of antigen residing in the inner core region of S- and R-form lipopolysaccharides from different families of gram-negative bacteria.

A new antigenic specificity, referred to here as common lipopolysaccharide (LPS) specificity, is described in the LPSs of gram-negative bacteria belonging to various families. The specificity is present in S- and R-form LPS but absent in Re mutants of different enterobacterial genera. By the use of purified LPS and monospecific antibodies obtained by immunoabsorption, the specificity is differentiated from the known core specificities of the genus Salmonella and the lipid A specificity by aid of the passive hemolysis and passive hemolysis inhibition test. In Salmonella minnesota R-form LPS, the specificity may be cryptic (R345, Rb2 mutant) or partly exposed in the intact molecule (R7, Rd1 mutant). The specificity is either demasked or completely exposed after mild acid hydrolysis for a short time, whereas it is destroyed after prolonged hydrolysis. Periodate oxidation, reduction, and hydrolysis under conditions that do not affect the ketosidic linkages of 2-keto-3-deoxyoctulosonic acid destroy the specificity in R4 (Rd2 mutant) LPS, but do not do so in R7 LPS. It is suggested that 2-keto-3-deoxyoctulosonic acid and a following neutral sugar are the compositional requirements for expressing the specificity.