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Studies on bacterial capsular polysaccharides and on a plant gum

University of British Columbia

The structure of the capsular polysaccharides from Klebsiella serotype K60 and K26 have been determined using the techniques of methylation.periodate oxidation,partial hydrolysis, and β-elimination. ¹H- and ¹³C-n.m.r. spectroscopy was used to establish the nature of the anomeric linkages in both polysaccharides and also in the oligosaccharides obtained by the different degradative techniques used. Specific hydrolases obtained from bacteriophages were utilized to degrade two Klebsiella polysaccharides. Larger quantities of oligosaccharide repeating units can be generated in this manner. Two bacteriophages, Ø60 and Ø46,the first one with β-glucosidase activity and the other with β-galactosidase activity, were used to degrade the corresponding polysaccharides according to a new, simplified procedure. The purified gum exudate from Chorisia speciosa (palo borracho) was studied. The results from methylation analysis, β-elimination and partial hydrolysis made possible a tentative assignment for an "average structure" of the gum polysaccharide.

Text

2010-03-26

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/22810

Chemistry

University of British Columbia

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