Journal of Dental Research, Vol 67, 574-576, Copyright © 1988 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Electrophoretic heterogeneity of lipopolysaccharides of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans
C. I. Hoover
Department of Stomatology, University of California, San Francisco 94143.
Electrophoretic banding patterns of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), as observed
by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE),
have proved to be useful in studies relating LPS structure to virulence and
as epidemiological markers. In this report, LPS of actinobacillus
actinomycetemcomitans from outer membrane fractions and hot phenol-water
extracts were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and LPS-specific silver-staining
techniques. Both intra- and inter-strain heterogeneity of A.
actinomycetemcomitans LPS was observed. Twelve strains of A.
actinomycetemcomitans, representative of the three described serotypes,
were assigned to LPS subtypes based on the relative mobility of their most
rapidly migrating LPS band. All three serotype a strains (29523, aB75, and
GA3), two (29524 and SAC11A) of five serotype b strains, and two (aB67 and
SAC5A) of four serotype c strains were assigned to LPS subtype I. The three
remaining serotype b strains (29522, Y4, and JP2) were assigned to LPS
subtype II, and the remaining two serotype c strains (SAC6A and SAC12A)
were assigned to LPS subtype III. LPS subtyping may serve as an adjunct or
alternative to serotyping in epidemiological studies.
