Fatty acids and neutral sugars present in lipopolysaccharides isolated from Fusobacterium species.

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) extracted from cells of Fusobacterium necrophorum, F. mortiferum, F. Gonidiaformans. varium and single strains of F. naviforme and F. russi were analysed for sugars and fatty acids. All preparations contained a monosaccharide tentatively identified as L-glycero-D-mannoheptose, but showed variation with respect to the presence of glucose, galactose, rhamnose and another heptose isomer, tentatively identified as L-glycero-D-mannoheptose. L-glycero-D-mannoheptose was a monosaccharide of great abundance in all LPS examined. 2-keto-3-deoxy-octonate and glucosamine were present in all LPS preparations. The fatty acids present were 3-hydroxy-tetradecanoic acid as the main component, and n-tetradecanoic acid. Some LPS contained n-hexadecanoic acid. All the strains of F. nucleatum contained 3-hydroxy-hexadecanoic acid as a group-specific LPS constituent.