Abstract
A rhamnose, galactose and pyruvic acid containing polysaccharide (capsule) together with the peptidoglycan was isolated fromRhodopseudomonas capsulata St. Louis as the insoluble sediment after sodium dodecyl sulfate extraction of cell envelope fractions. Treatment with pronase E separated the soluble polysaccharide from the insoluble peptidoglycan. After lysozyme-digestion, both the capsule polysaccharide and peptidoglycan were soluble.
The capsule was also accumulated in the combined interphase/phenol-phase of hot phenol-water extracts of whole cells. Again, the capsule and peptidoglycan were sedimented together as long as no pronase E-treatment was performed. With the phage-resistant mutant (R. capsulata St. Louis RC1-), no capsule polysaccharide was obtained in the combined interphase/phenol phase.
An acidic polysaccharide (slime) different from the capsule in composition and serology was obtained by Cetavlon fractionation of hot phenol/water extracts of cells of both the wild-type and the mutant cells. It was shown to consist mainly of rhamnose, glucosamine and galacturonic acid.
The use of O/K-antisera and of capsule polysaccharideantisera allowed a separate visualization of the capsule and slime layers.
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This paper is dedicated to Professor Hans G. Schoegel on the occasion of his 60th birthday
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Flammann, H.T., Golecki, J.R. & Weckesser, J. The capsule and slime polysaccharides of the wild type and a phage resistant mutant ofRhodopseudomonas capsulata St. Louis. Arch. Microbiol. 139, 38–43 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00692709
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00692709