VIEW ARTICLE

Physiology and Biochemistry

Partial Characterization and Serological Specificity of the Lipopolysaccharide of Erwinia chrysanthemi. J. J. Bradshaw-Rouse, Research specialist, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53706; L. Sequeira(2), A. Kelman(3), and R. S. Dickey(4). (2)(3)Professors, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53706; (4)Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Phytopathology 78:996-999. Accepted for publication 29 February 1988. Copyright 1988 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-78-996.

The sugar composition of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of 16 strains of Erwinia chrysanthemi (eight from corn, two from chrysanthemum, and six from other hosts) was analyzed by gas chromatography of the alditol acetate derivatives and by colorimetric assay. The LPS of all strains contained glucose, heptose, 3-deoxy-d-manno-octulosonic acid, glucosamine, and two unidentified sugars; other sugar components varied among different strains. Six groups, each containing one to six strains, were identified by cluster analysis of the mean molar ratios of rhamnose, fucose, mannose, galactose, and glucose. LPS composition was not correlated with virulence or original host of the strains. Agglutination of the strains by a corn seed agglutinin, possibly mediated by their LPS, was not correlated with ability to rot the corn hybrid 64A × W117. The antigenic reaction of the LPS from eight strains to antisera of E. chrysanthemi was correlated with sugar composition; the other LPS preparations did not react with any of the antisera.