Rapid structural elucidation of polysaccharides employing predicted functions of glycosyltransferases and NMR data: Application to the O-antigen of Escherichia coli O59

A computerized method that uses predicted functions of glycosyltransferases (GTs) in conjunction with unassigned NMR data has been developed for the structural elucidation of bacterial polysaccharides (PSs). In this approach, information about the action of GTs (consisting of possible sugar residues used as donors and/or acceptors, as well as the anomeric configuration and/or substitution position in the respective glycosidic linkages) is extracted from the Escherichia coli O-antigen database and is submitted, together with the unassigned NMR data, to the CASPER program. This time saving methodology, which alleviates the need for chemical analysis, was successfully implemented in the structural elucidation of the O-antigen PS of E. coli O59. The repeating unit of the O-specific chain was determined using the O-deacylated PS and has a branched structure, namely, -> 6)[alpha-d-GalpA3Ac/4Ac-(1 -> 3)]-alpha-d-Manp-(1 -> 3)-alpha-d-Manp-(1 -> 3)-beta-d-Manp-(1 -> 3)-alpha-d-GlcpNAc-(1 ->. The identification of the O-acetylation positions was efficiently performed by comparison of the H-1,C-13 HSQC NMR spectra of the O-deacylated lipopolysaccharide and the lipid-free PS in conjunction with chemical shift predictions made by the CASPER program. The side-chain d-GalpA residue carries one equivalent of O-acetyl groups at the O-3 and O-4 positions distributed in the LPS in a 3:7 ratio, respectively. The presence of O-acetyl groups in the repeating unit of the E. coli O59 PS is consistent with the previously proposed acetyltransferase WclD in the O-antigen gene cluster.