US EPA

5111049 

Journal Article 

Serogroup specificity of Legionella pneumophila is related to lipopolysaccharide characteristics 

Ciesielski, CA; Blaser, MJ; Wang, WL 

1986 

Yes 

Infection and Immunity
ISSN: 0019-9567
EISSN: 1098-5522 

51 

2 

397-404 

English 

2417953 

WOS:A1986AYC0800005 

We studied the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Legionella pneumophila and six other Legionella species to determine whether strain differences were apparent. The LPS was purified by a cold ethanol extraction procedure, and total carbohydrates represented 10 to 20% of LPS weight. 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate represented 1 to 13% of the total carbohydrate present in the LPS. By sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, all strains except L. dumoffi showed smooth-type LPS with multiple high-molecular-weight complexes. Proteinase K-treated, whole-cell lysates showed profiles similar to those of purified LPS. Each serogroup of L. pneumophila and each Legionella species had a distinct sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis profile. L. pneumophila lipid A is antigenically related to the lipid A of Enterobacteriaceae. In immunoblot assays with the LPS of L. pneumophila serogroups 1 to 6 as antigens, serogroup-specific immune monkey sera recognized homologous purified LPS, but not the LPS of the five heterologous serogroups. These studies indicate that LPS composition may be a determinant of serogroup specificity as defined by the immunofluorescence-based serogrouping schema for L. pneumophila and other Legionella species.