Two-dimensional Proton NMR Research Articles

Two-dimensional proton and phosphorus-31 NMR spectra and restrained molecular dynamics structure of an extrahelical adenosine tridecamer oligodeoxyribonucleotide duplex

Assignment of the 1H and 31P NMR spectra of an extrahelical adenosine tridecamer oligodeoxyribonucleotide duplex, d(CGCAGAATTCGCG)2, has been made by two-dimensional 1H-1H and heteronuclear 31P-1H correlated spectroscopy. The downfield 31P resonance previously noted by Patel et al. (1982) has been assigned by both 17O labeling of the phosphate as well as a pure absorption phase constant-time heteronuclear 31P-1H correlated spectrum and has been associated with the phosphate on the 3' side of the extrahelical adenosine. JH3'-P coupling constants for each of the phosphates of the tridecamer were obtained from the 1H-31P J-resolved selective proton-flip 2D spectrum. By use of a modified Karplus relationship the C4-C3'-O3-P torsional angles (epsilon) were obtained. There exists a good linear correlation between 31P chemical shifts and the epsilon torsional angle. The 31P chemical shifts and epsilon torsional angles follow the general observation that the more internal the phosphate is located within the oligonucleotide sequence, the more upfield the 31P resonance occurs. Because the extrahelical adenosine significantly distorts the deoxyribose phosphate backbone conformation even several bases distant from the extrahelical adenosine, 31P chemical shifts show complex site- and sequence-specific variations. Modeling and NOESY distance-restrained energy minimization and restrained molecular dynamics suggest that the extrahelical adenosine stacks into the duplex. However, a minor conformation is also observed in the 1H NMR, which could be associated with a structure in which the extrahelical adenosine loops out into solution.

One- and two-dimensional NMR studies of yeast phosphoglycerate kinase.

One- and two-dimensional proton NMR studies have been carried out on yeast phosphoglycerate kinase (Mr approximately 45,000) in order to identify amino-acid spin systems and obtain sequence-specific assignments. A number of sequence-specific assignments have been made using a combination of structural information contained in nuclear Overhauser effect spectra and X-ray crystallographic data. The results of substrate binding studies (both 3-phosphoglycerate and Mg.ATP), which indicate mutual reorientation of certain assigned aromatic residues in the inter-domain region of the protein, are discussed.

NMR studies of DNA (R+)n.(Y-)n.(Y+)n triple helices in solution: imino and amino proton markers of T.A.T and C.G.C+ base-triple formation.

High-resolution exchangeable proton two-dimensional NMR spectra have been recorded on 11-mer DNA triple helices containing one oligopurine (R)n and two oligopyrimidine (Y)n strands at acidic pH and elevated temperatures. Our two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser effect studies have focused on an 11-mer triplex where the third oligopyrimidine strand is parallel to the oligopurine strand. The observed distance connectivities establish that the third oligopyrimidine strand resides in the major groove with the triplex stabilized through formation of T.A.T and C.G.C+ base triples. The T.A.T base triple can be monitored by imino protons of the thymidines involved in Watson-Crick (13.65-14.25 ppm) and Hoogsteen (12.9-13.55 ppm) pairing, as well as the amino protons of adenosine (7.4-7.7 ppm). The amino protons of the protonated (8.5-10.0 ppm) and unprotonated (6.5-8.3 ppm) cytidines in the C.G.C+ base triple provide distinct markers as do the imino protons of the guanosine (12.6-13.3 ppm) and the protonated cytidine (14.5-16.0 ppm). The upfield chemical shift of the adenosine H8 protons (7.1-7.3 ppm) establishes that the oligopurine strand adopts an A-helical base stacking conformation in the 11-mer triplex. These results demonstrate that oligonucleotide triple helices can be readily monitored by NMR at the individual base-triple level with distinct markers differentiating between Watson-Crick and Hoogsteen pairing. Excellent exchangeable proton spectra have also been recorded for (R+)n.(Y-)n.(Y+)n 7-mer triple helices with the shorter length permitting spectra to be recorded at ambient temperature.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Unstable Hoogsteen base pairs adjacent to echinomycin binding sites within a DNA duplex.

The bisintercalation complex present between the DNA octamer [d(ACGTACGT)]2 and the cyclic octadepsipeptide antibiotic echinomycin has been studied by one- and two-dimensional proton NMR, and the results obtained have been compared with the crystal structures of related DNA-echinomycin complexes. Two echinomycins are found to bind cooperatively to each DNA duplex at the CpG steps, with the two quinoxaline rings of each echinomycin bisintercalating between the C.G and A.T base pairs. At low temperatures, the A.T base pairs on either side of the intercalation site adopt the Hoogsteen conformation, as observed in the crystal structures. However, as the temperature is raised, the Hoogsteen base pairs in the interior of the duplex are destabilized and are observed to be exchanging between the Hoogsteen base pair and either an open or a Watson-Crick base-paired state. The terminal A.T base pairs, which are not as constrained by the helix as the internal base pairs, remain stably Hoogsteen base-paired up to at least 45 degrees C. The implications of these results for the biological role of Hoogsteen base pairs in echinomycin-DNA complexes in vivo are discussed.

Solution structure of the chromomycin-DNA complex.

The structure of the chromomycin-DNA complex at the deoxyoctanucleotide duplex level has been determined from one- and two-dimensional proton NMR studies in Mg-containing aqueous solution. The NMR results demonstrate that the antitumor agent binds as a symmetrical dimer to the self-complementary d[T-T-G-G-C-C-A-A] duplex with retention of the 2-fold symmetry in the complex. A set of intermolecular nuclear Overhauser enhancements (NOEs) establishes that two chromomycin molecules in the dimer share the minor groove at the G-G-C-C.G-G-C-C segment in such a way that each hydrophilic edge of the chromophore is located next to the G-G.C-C half-site and each C-D-E trisaccharide chain extends toward the 3'-direction of the octanucleotide duplex. In addition, the A-B disaccharide segment and the hydrophilic side chain of the antitumor agent are directed toward the phosphate backbone. The observed changes in nucleic acid NOEs and coupling patterns on complex formation establish a transition to a wider and shallower minor groove at the central G-G-C-C.G-G-C-C segment required for accommodating the chromomycin dimer. The present demonstration that chromomycin binds as a dimer and switches the conformation of the DNA at its G.C-rich minor groove binding site provides new insights into antitumor agent design and the sequence specificity of antitumor agent-DNA recognition.

Structure elucidation of the blood group B like and blood group I active octaantennary ceramide tetracontasaccharide from rabbit erythrocyte membranes by two-dimensional proton NMR spectroscopy at 600 MHz

The primary structure of the ceramide tetracontasaccharide (1) from rabbit erythrocyte membranes has been determined with the aid of 600-MHz two-dimensional phase-sensitive correlated, "totally correlated" (TOCSY, homonuclear Hartmann-Hahn), relayed coherence transfer, triple quantum filtered, and nuclear Overhauser enhancement 1H NMR spectra. It was shown that obtaining subspectra of the constituent sugar residues from a totally correlated spectrum and assigning the resonances occurring in these subspectra by analyzing the relevant cross-peaks in phase-sensitive correlated spectra is the most efficient way for establishing complex oligosaccharide structures. This analysis has shown 1 to be the highest homologue of the multiantennary neolactoglycosphingolipids of the following general formula with n = 7: (Formula: see text).

Two-dimensional NMR studies of the porcine muscle adenylate kinase.

Porcine adenylate kinase was subjected to one- and two-dimensional proton NMR studies in order to identify amino acid spin systems and obtain sequence-specific resonance assignments. With a combination of results from a map of side-chain distances resulting from the refined X-ray crystallographic data and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY), assignments are suggested for all the aromatic spin systems.

Heteronuclear three-dimensional nmr spectroscopy. A strategy for the simplification of homonuclear two-dimensional NMR spectra

Recently, three-dimensional Fourier transform techniques have been suggested (I3) as a possible method to resolve the spectra of complicated systems. Analogous to the comparison of 2D with 1 D NMR, three-dimensional NMR spectroscopy allows an increase in resolution and offers additional correlations for the elucidation of scalarand dipolar-coupled spin networks as compared to 2D NMR. Homonuclear 3D NMR experiments have been reported which emp loy tailored soft pulses (I, 2) to excite only parts of the proton spectral window or which use the narrow frequency band of J couplings for the third dimension (3) in order to reduce the experimental accumulation time. In this communication, we propose heteronuclear 3D NMR spectroscopy to aid in the simplification of two-dimensional proton NMR spectra of isotopically labeled compounds. For proteins, labels can easily be introduced by adding isotopically labeled nutrients to the growth med ium of bacterial expression systems (e.g., Ref. (4)). The experiments described comprise a combination of heteronuclear mu ltiple-quantum correlation (HMQC) (5, 6) with homonuclear COSY and NOESY and may therefore be named HMQC-COSY and HMQC-NOESY. Heteronuclear 3D experiments hold considerable promise for application to larger systems because one of the coherence transfer steps involves scalar couplings much larger than the ‘H linewidths. F igure 1 shows the pulse sequences of the HMQC-COSY and HMQC-NOESY experiments. Analogous to the HMQC experiment, heteronuclear mu ltiple-quantum coherence created by the first two RF pulses evolves during tI effectively with the single-quantum heteronuclear chemical shift. This coherence is converted to proton single-quantum coherence ant iphase with respect to the heteronucleus by the second hetero pulse, which is refocused at the end of the second 7 period. On ly those protons which are coupled to the heteronucleus are frequency labeled during tl . Therefore, the further frequency labeling during t2 under the homonuclear Hamiltonian needs to cover only the heteronuclear coupled protons, thus allowing nonselective RF pulses to be used throughout the sequence. Protons not coupled to the heteronuclei, which may be considered axial peaks in ol, are suppressed by an inversion of the first hetero pulse concomitant with an inversion of the receiver phase (6). Depending on the experiment, the signals arising from heteronuclear coupled protons are converted to COSY (Fg 1A) or NOESY (Fii 1B) type responses. In order to enhance sen-

Two-dimensional NMR studies of Kazal proteinase inhibitors. 1. Sequence-specific assignments and secondary structure of turkey ovomucoid third domain.

Two-dimensional proton NMR experiments have been used to sequentially assign resonances to all of the peptide backbone protons of turkey ovomucoid third domain (OMTKY3) except those of the N-terminal alpha-amino group whose signal was not resolved owing to exchange with the solvent. Assignments also have been made for more than 80% of the side-chain protons. Two-dimensional chemical shift correlated spectroscopy (COSY), relayed coherence transfer spectroscopy (RELAY), and two-dimensional homonuclear Hartmann-Hahn spectroscopy (HOHAHA) were used to identify the spin systems of almost half of the residues prior to sequential assignment. Assignments were based on two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser enhancements observed between adjacent residues. The secondary structure of OMTKY3 in solution was determined from additional assigned NOESY cross-peaks; it closely resembles the secondary structure determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction of OMTKY3 in complex with Streptomyces griseus proteinase B [Fujinaga, M., Read, R.J., Sielecki, A., Ardelt, W., Laskowski, M., Jr., & James, M.N.G. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 4868-4872]. The NMR data provide evidence for three slowly exchanging amide protons that were not identified as hydrogen-bond donors in the crystal structure.

Heteronuclear filters for two-dimensional proton NMR. Identification of the metal-bound amino acids in metallothionein and observation of small heteronuclear long-range couplings

Heteronuclear filters for two-dimensional proton NMR. Identification of the metal-bound amino acids in metallothionein and observation of small heteronuclear long-range couplings

One- and two-dimensional 1H NMR, fluorescence, and molecular modeling studies on the tomaymycin-d(ATGCAT)2 adduct. Evidence for two covalent adducts with opposite orientations and stereochemistries at the covalent linkage site.

Tomaymycin is a member of the pyrrolo[1,4]benzodiazepine antitumor-antibiotic group that binds covalently to the exocyclic 2-amino group of guanine in DNA. Previous correlation of fluorescence and NMR data suggested that the 11R,11aS and the 11S,11aS diastereomers of tomaymycin could bind to DNA in two orientations relative to the covalently modified guanine (Barkley, M. D.; Cheatham, S.; Thurston, D. E.; Hurley, L. H. Biochemistry 1986, 25, 3021-3031). We now report on fluorescence, one- and two-dimensional proton NMR, and molecular modeling studies of the tomaymycin-d(ATGCAT)2 adduct, which corroborate these earlier observations. Fluorescence measurements show that there are two species of tomaymycin bound to d(ATGCAT)2, which are tentatively identified as the 11R,11aS and 11S,11aS diastereomers. Two distinct sets of signals for the tomaymycin molecule are present in the proton NMR spectrum of the tomaymycin-d(ATGCAT)2 duplex adduct. Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COSY) studies also show connectivities for four cytosine H5-H6 and eight thymine methyl-H6 protons and thus clearly establish the presence of two distinct species of tomaymycin-d(ATGCAT)2 adducts in solution. A single scalar 11-11a 1H NMR coupling in the 2D-COSY spectrum is indicative of an adduct species that has an S configuration at the C-11 position. Two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser effect (NOESY) spectra of the tomaymycin-d(ATGCAT)2 duplex adduct show that the adducts are relatively nondistortive. In a NOESY experiment, cross-peaks were identified between both the aromatic H9 proton and the ethylidine methyl protons of tomaymycin and two different adenine H2 protons of d(ATGCAT)2. Molecular mechanics calculations with AMBER show that the two species with the thermodynamically most favorable binding energies are the 11R,11aS and 11S,11aS isomers with their aromatic rings to the 5' and 3' sides of the covalently bound guanine, respectively. The NOEs observed between tomaymycin protons and adenine H2 protons are in accord with molecular modeling studies. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that the two forms of tomaymycin bound to d(ATGCAT)2 are the 11S,11aS and 11R,11aS species, oriented with their aromatic rings to the 3' and 5' sides, respectively, of the covalently modified guanines.

Fucose-Containing Oligosaccharides from Human Milk from a Donor of Blood Group 0 LeaNonsecretor

The neutral oligosaccharides from the milk of a single donor with blood group 0, Lewis(a+b-) nonsecretor were separated into 18 fractions essentially according to the number of carbohydrate constituents using gel permeation chromatography on Biogel P-4 and Fractogel TSK HW-40. Further separation was achieved by HPLC and by HPTLC after reduction and peracetylation. The fractions obtained were analysed by FAB mass spectrometry with and without derivatization and by one- and two-dimensional proton NMR. Besides the already described 3-fucosidolactose, fucopentaose II (2), fucopentaose III (6) and difucohexaose II (4) the following fucosylated oligosaccharides could be identified. Among the higher oligosaccharides a branched lacto-N-decaose (12) was obtained in pure form after removal of the fucose residues by mild acid treatment.

Proton NMR studies of the GDP.Mg 2+ complex of the Ha-ras oncogene product p21

Two-dimensional proton NMR studies were performed on the c-Ha-ras encoded proto-oncogene product p21 C. COSY and NOESY spectra of the p21 C.GDP.Mg 2+ complex show that the ribose H1' proton of the bound GDP is in close proximity to the aromatic side chain of a phenylalanyl residue. From sequence homology with the bacterial elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) and the known X-ray structure of the EF-Tu.GDP.Mg 2+ complex it may be inferred that the Phe residue in question is either Phe 78 or Phe 82 in the p21 sequence.

Base pair mismatches and carcinogen-modified bases in DNA: an NMR study of G.T and G.O4meT pairing in dodecanucleotide duplexes.

High-resolution two-dimensional NMR studies have been completed on the self-complementary d(C-G-C-G-A-G-C-T-T-G-C-G) duplex (designated G.T 12-mer) and the self-complementary d(C-G-C-G-A-G-C-T-O4meT-G-C-G) duplex (designated G.O4meT 12-mer) containing G.T and G.O4meT pairs at identical positions four base pairs in from either end of the duplex. The exchangeable and nonexchangeable proton resonances have been assigned from an analysis of two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOESY) spectra for the G.T 12-mer and G.O4meT 12-mer duplexes in H2O and D2O solution. The guanosine and thymidine imino protons in the G.T mismatch resonate at 10.57 and 11.98 ppm, respectively, and exhibit a strong NOE between themselves and to imino protons of flanking base pairs in the G.T 12-mer duplex. These results are consistent with wobble pairing at the G.T mismatch site involving two imino proton-carbonyl hydrogen bonds as reported previously [Hare, D. R., Shapiro, L., & Patel, D. J. (1986) Biochemistry 25, 7445-7456]. In contrast, the guanosine imino proton in the G.O4meT pair resonates at 8.67 ppm. The large upfield chemical shift of this proton relative to that of the imino proton resonance of G in the G.T mismatch or in G.C base pairs indicates that hydrogen bonding to O4meT is either very weak or absent. This guanosine imino proton has an NOE to the OCH3 group of O4meT across the pair and NOEs to the imino protons of flanking base pairs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

NMR studies of A.C mismatches in DNA dodecanucleotides at acidic pH. Wobble A(anti).C(anti) pair formation.

Two-dimensional proton NMR studies were undertaken on the d(C-G-A-G-A-A-T-T-C-C-C-G) duplex (designated A.C 12-mer) where the A at the mismatch site is flanked by G residues and the d(C-G-C-G-A-A-T-T-C-A-C-G) duplex (designated C.A 12-mer) where the A at the mismatch site is flanked by C residues in an attempt to elucidate the role of flanking base pairs on the structure of the A.C mismatch. The exchangeable and nonexchangeable proton spectra of these two dodecanucleotides have been completely characterized by two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) experiments in H2O and D2O solution at acidic pH. The NOE distance connectivities demonstrate that both A and C at the mismatch site are stacked into a right-handed helix between flanking G.C base pairs and exhibit anti-glycosidic torsion angles. The proton chemical shifts and NOE patterns are consistent with Wobble A.C pairing for the A.C 12-mer and C.A 12-mer duplexes in solution and demonstrate that the A.C mismatches introduce local conformational perturbations that do not extend to the central AATT segment. We detect that amino protons of adenosine (approximately 9.2 ppm) but not of cytidine at the A.C mismatch site in both duplexes on lowering the pH below 6.

Two-dimensional 1H NMR study of human ubiquitin: a main chain directed assignment and structure analysis.

The 1H resonances of human ubiquitin were studied by two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. A recently introduced assignment algorithm termed the main chain directed (MCD) assignment [Englander, S. W., & Wand, A. J. (1987) Biochemistry 26, 5953-5958] was applied. This approach relies on an ordered series of searches for prescribed patterns of connectivities in two-dimensional J-correlated and nuclear Overhauser effect spectra and centers on the dipolar interactions involving main-chain amide NH, alpha-CH, and beta-CH. Unlike the sequential assignment procedure, the MCD approach does not rest upon definition of side-chain J-coupled networks and is generally not sequential with the primary sequence of the protein. The various MCD patterns and the general algorithm are reiterated and applied to the analysis of human ubiquitin. With this algorithm, the vast majority of amino acid residue amide NH-C alpha H-C beta H J-coupled subspin systems could be associated with and aligned within units of secondary structure without any knowledge of the identity of the side chains. This greatly simplified recognition of side-chain spin systems by restricting their identity. Essentially complete resonance assignments are presented. The MCD method is compared with the sequential assignment method in some detail. The MCD method is highly amenable to automation. Human ubiquitin is found, at pH 5.8 and 30 degrees C, to be composed of an extensive beta-sheet structure involving five strands. Three of these strands form an antiparallel set sharing a common strand and have a parallel orientation to two antiparallel strands. Two helical segments were also observed. The largest, spanning 13 residues, shows dipolar interactions consistent with an alpha-helix while the smaller 4-residue helical segment appears, on the basis of observed nuclear Overhauser effects, to be a 3(10) helix. Five classical tight turns could be demonstrated.

Two-dimensional 1H NMR of gene 5 protein indicates that only two aromatic rings interact significantly with oligodeoxynucleotide bases.

The interaction of gene 5 protein (G5P) with oligodeoxynucleotides is investigated by 1H NMR methods, principally two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY). Aromatic resonances of G5P are specifically assigned from crystallographic data, while the low-field resonances of nucleotides are assigned with sequential or other procedures. Chemical shift changes that accompany binding of d(pA)4, d(A)4, d(pT)4, and d(pA)8, combined with specific protein-nucleotide nuclear Overhauser effects (NOEs) obtained from NOESY spectra, suggest that Phe-73 and Tyr-26 are the only aromatic residues that stack significantly with nucleotide bases. Chemical shift data also imply a role for Leu-28, though this has not been confirmed with intermolecular NOEs. Binding of all four oligonucleotides causes marked upfield movements (0.1-0.6 ppm) of G5P NOESY cross peaks belonging to Tyr-26, Leu-28, and Phe-73. Most other G5P spin systems, notably those of Tyr-34 and Tyr-41, do not appear to be significantly affected. In the d(pA)4-G5P complex an intermolecular NOE is observed between Tyr-26 and H1' of Ade-1, while Phe-73 has NOEs with the H2, H8, and H1' protons of Ade-2 and -3. Intramolecular NOEs seem to follow a similar pattern in the partially cooperative d(pA)8-G5P complex, though specific nucleotide resonance assignments are not possible in this case. Binding causes relatively small chemical shift changes for the base resonances in adenylyl nucleotides, suggesting that there is some, but not complete, unstacking of the bases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Two-photon, carbon-13 and two-dimensional proton NMR spectroscopic studies of retinyl Schiff bases, protonated Schiff bases and Schiff base salts: evidence for a protonation induced .pi..pi.* excited state level ordering reversal

The ..pi pi..* excited singlet state manifolds of the visual chromophores, all-trans-retinylpyrrolidiniminium perchlorate (ATRSBS) and all-trans-N-retinylidene-n-butylimine:HCl (ATRPSB) are studied by using one-photon and two-photon laser spectroscopy. The goal is a better understanding of how protonation and counterion location affect level ordering in retinyl Schiff bases. Ambient temperature two-photon thermal lensing spectra indicate that ATRSBS has a lowest lying /sup 1/A/sub g/*/sup -/-like state as was observed previously for all-trans-retinal and the Schiff base of all-trans-retinal. In contrast, two-photon spectra of ATRPSB indicate that the protonated Schiff base has a lowest lying /sup 1/B/sub u/*/sup +/-like state. The origin of this level ordering reversal is analyzed by using molecular orbital theory as well as /sup 13/C and two-dimensional /sup 1/H NMR. They conclude that the relative level ordering of the low-lying covalent and ionic ..pi pi..* excited states of protonated Schiff bases and Schiff base salts is highly sensitive to counterion location (diffuseness). INDO-PSDCI molecular orbital theory is shown to be a reliable theoretical method of predicting the effect of counterion location on the one-photon and two-photon properties of retinyl protonated Schiff bases and Schiff base salts. This study provides further experimental support for the conclusions of a previous two-photon investigationmore » of the rhodopsin binding site which demonstrated that the protein bound 11-cis-retinyl chromophore is protonated and occupies a neutral binding site.« less

Structural analysis of teicoplanin A2 by 2d NMR

The analysis of the intact glycopeptide antibiotic, teicoplanin A 2, by two-dimensional proton NMR is described. Delayed-correlation spectroscopy (COSY), double-quantum coherence experiments (DACE), and nuclear Overhauser spectroscopy (NOESY) are utilized to confirm the primary structure. Distance constraints derived from NOESY data integrated with computer-assisted molecular modeling and force-field energy minimization yields a proposed three-dimensional solution-state conformation. Included are NMR methods developed for improved accuracy of distance measurements from 2D NOE experiments obtained on samples dissolved in DMSO- d 6/water. The effects of different pulse sequences for water suppression on the 2D NOE spectral results are compared. Clear indication that teicoplanin exists in two unequally populated conformations which are in slow exchange is revealed by the presence of cross peaks attributable to conformational interchange in the NOESY spectra.

Structural studies on the O-chain polysaccharides of lipopolysaccharides from Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea

O-chain polysaccharides from the lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of four races of Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea were subjected to methylation analysis, periodate oxidation and analysis by one- and two-dimensional proton NMR spectroscopy. The results indicated that LPS O-chain repeating units of races 1, 5 and 6 are similar if not identical and are composed of 2-linked, 3-linked and 3,4-linked rhamnose residues with terminal N-acetylglucosamine residues. O-chain fractions from race 4 isolates contained the same residues but in a considerably different ratio. An isolate of race 4 which contained a cloned race 6 avirulence gene produced O-chain polysaccharides indistinguishable from those of the wild type race 4 in the residues present and their ratios. The data therefore argue that the O-chain carbohydrates of P. syringae pv. glycinea LPS may not function as the race specific elements recognized by disease resistant soybean cultivars.