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. 1994 Jun;62(6):2270–2276. doi: 10.1128/iai.62.6.2270-2276.1994

Lipopolysaccharide smooth-rough phase variation in bacteria of the genus Chlamydia.

M Lukácová 1, M Baumann 1, L Brade 1, U Mamat 1, H Brade 1
PMCID: PMC186507  PMID: 8188348

Abstract

In two strains of Chlamydia psittaci and in Chlamydia trachomatis serotype L1, we have detected a so-far-unknown antigen which (i) is resistant to heat and proteolytic digestion, (ii) can be extracted with phenol-water into the water phase, (iii) gives a ladder-like banding pattern in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, (iv) is immunogenic in rabbits and mice, and (v) contains immunoreactivity of lipid A, a common and characteristic component of gram-negative lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Thus, chlamydiae contain, in addition to the known rough-type LPS, another LPS type which is phenotypically smooth (S-LPS). S-LPS was observed preferentially in chlamydiae grown in the yolk sac of embryonated eggs; it was, however, also detected by immunofluorescence in tissue culture-grown chlamydiae with a monoclonal antibody against S-LPS.

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Selected References

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