NMR-STUDIES OF ACETAN AND THE RELATED BACTERIAL POLYSACCHARIDE, CR1/4, PRODUCED BY A MUTANT STRAIN OF ACETOBACTER-XYLINUM

Acetan is a bacterial polysaccharide produced by Acetobacter xylinum NRRL B42. Chemical mutagenesis of A.xylinum allowed selection of a mutant strain which produced a new polysaccharide, CR1/4. 2D NMR methods have been used to assign the H-1 and C-13 spectra of the two polysaccharides and to determine that CR1/4 has the structure shown below. The total number of O-acetyl groups is slightly less than two per repeating unit, [GRAPHICS] The pentasaccharide side chain of acetan is truncated to a disaccharide unit in CR1/4, but the structures are otherwise identical. In particular, the degree of acetylation is about the same and the O-acetyl groups are located at the same positions in both polysaccharides.