Abstract
The genus Acinetobacter is composed of ubiquitous, generally nonpathogen environmental bacteria. Interest concerning these microorganisms has increased during the last 30 years, because some strains, belonging to the so-called A. baumannii-A. calcoaceticus complex, have been implicated in some severe pathological states in debilitated and hospitalized patients. The involvement of lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) as virulence factors in infections by Acinetobacter has been proven, and ongoing studies are aimed toward the complete serological characterization of the O-polysaccharides from LPSs isolated in clinical samples. Conversely, no characterization of the lipid A fraction from Acinetobacter strains has been performed. Here, the detailed structure of the lipid A fraction from A. radioresistens S13 is reported for the first time. A. radioresistens strains have never been isolated in cases of infectious disease. Nevertheless, it is known that the lipid A structure, with minor variations, is highly conserved across the genus; thus, structural details acquired from studies of this nonpathogen strain represent a useful basis for further studies of pathogen species.
Highlights
The genus Acinetobacter is composed of ubiquitous, generally nonpathogen environmental bacteria
Among the 19 genomic species identified within the genus to date, those detected in human clinical isolates usually belong to the so-called A. calcoaceticus-A. baumannii complex [3, 4], a set of four distinct genomic species of ascertained virulence
We described the structure of the core-lipid A saccharide backbone from A. radioresistens S13 [20], a nonpathogen strain isolated from the soil surrounding an activated sludge plant in Torino (Italy) and selected for its ability to efficiently metabolize phenol and benzoate [21]
Summary
The genus Acinetobacter is composed of ubiquitous, generally nonpathogen environmental bacteria. Monosaccharide and methylation analyses showed the occurrence of 6-substituted-glucosamine and terminal glucosamine, both possessing the D configuration, in agreement with what was observed previously in the core-lipid A structure [20], from which we know that the disaccharide backbone is composed of two 2-amino-2-deoxyglucose residues (GlcN I and GlcN II) linked by the typical b-(1-6) glycosidic linkage and phosphorylated at positions
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