The capsular polysaccharide (CPS) of Streptococcus suis serotype 2 was isolated, purified, chemically modified, and characterized. Sugar and absolute configuration analyses of the CPS gave the following composition: D-Gal, 3; D-Glc, 1; D-GlcNAc, 1; D-Neu5Ac, 1; L-Rha, 1. Sialic acid was found to be terminal, and the CPS was quantitatively desialylated by mild acid hydrolysis. The CPS was also submitted to periodate oxidation followed by borohydride reduction and Smith degradation. Sugar and methylation analysis, 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry of the native CPS or of its specifically modified products allowed to determine the repeating unit sequence: [4)[Neu5Ac(α2-6)Gal(β1-4)GlcNAc(β1-3)]Gal(β1-4)[Gal(α1-3) ]Rha(β1-4)Glc(β1-]n. The backbone sequence was found to be identical to that of Streptococcus agalactiae or group B Streptococcus (GBS) type VIII and Streptococcus pneumoniae type 23F. The S. suis CPS shares the sequence Neu5Ac-Gal-GlcNAc-Gal in common with GBS types Ia, Ib, II, III, and IV CPSs but differs from them by the presence of rhamnose and the fact that sialic acid is 2,6- rather than 2,3-linked to the following Gal. A correlation between the S. suis CPS sequence and genes of the serotype 2 cps locus encoding putative enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of the repeating unit was tentatively established.

chemical modification, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS), repeating unit sequence

13C NMR data:
Linkage	Residue	C1	C2	C3	C4	C5	C6
4,4,3,4	bDGalp	104.06	72.15	73.83	69.74	76.43	62.05
4,4,3,2	Ac	175.60	23.49
4,4,3	bDGlcpN	103.82	56.72	73.45	80.18	75.88	61.66
4,4	bDGalp	104.00	71.70	83.42	76.43	75.31	62.04
4,3	aDGalp	94.41	69.37	70.71	70.58	72.25	62.29
4	bLRhap	101.40	66.92	76.57	77.05	72.25	18.31
	bDGlcp	103.18	74.79	76.85	78.44	75.59	62.29


1H NMR data:
Linkage	Residue	H1	H2	H3	H4	H5	H6
4,4,3,4	bDGalp	4.47	3.55	3.65	3.94	3.72	3.7-3.8
4,4,3,2	Ac	-	2.03
4,4,3	bDGlcpN	4.78	3.76	3.75	3.69	3.60	3.82-3.98
4,4	bDGalp	4.66	3.66	3.78	4.34	3.67	3.7-3.8
4,3	aDGalp	5.25	3.90	3.95	3.98	4.19	3.74
4	bLRhap	4.86	4.38	3.92	3.87	3.50	1.36
	bDGlcp	4.86	3.32	3.67	3.61	3.49	3.93


1H/13C HSQC data:
Linkage	Residue	C1/H1	C2/H2	C3/H3	C4/H4	C5/H5	C6/H6
4,4,3,4	bDGalp	104.06/4.47	72.15/3.55	73.83/3.65	69.74/3.94	76.43/3.72	62.05/3.7-3.8
4,4,3,2	Ac		23.49/2.03
4,4,3	bDGlcpN	103.82/4.78	56.72/3.76	73.45/3.75	80.18/3.69	75.88/3.60	61.66/3.82-3.98
4,4	bDGalp	104.00/4.66	71.70/3.66	83.42/3.78	76.43/4.34	75.31/3.67	62.04/3.7-3.8
4,3	aDGalp	94.41/5.25	69.37/3.90	70.71/3.95	70.58/3.98	72.25/4.19	62.29/3.74
4	bLRhap	101.40/4.86	66.92/4.38	76.57/3.92	77.05/3.87	72.25/3.50	18.31/1.36
	bDGlcp	103.18/4.86	74.79/3.32	76.85/3.67	78.44/3.61	75.59/3.49	62.29/3.93

There is only one chemically distinct structure:

SVGMWSMILES3D molIonize

 

*O[C@H]1[C@@H](CO)O[C@@H](O[C@H]2[C@H](C)O[C@H](O[C@@H]3[C@@H](CO)O[C@@H](*)[C@H](O)[C@H]3O)[C@H](O)[C@@H]2O[C@H]2O[C@H](CO)[C@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@H]2O)[C@H](O)[C@H]1O[C@@H]1O[C@H](CO)[C@@H](O[C@@H]2O[C@H](CO)[C@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@H]2O)[C@H](O)[C@H]1NC(C)=O

997.9 g/mol (C₃₈H₆₃R₂NO₂₉, R = next and previous repeats, not counted in mol weight)