CAPSULATION OF PNEUMOCOCCUS WITH SOLUBLE CELL WALL-LIKE POLYSACCHARIDE

Abstract

Methods are described for the separation of the C or cell wall polysaccharide from the C_s or soluble C-like capsular polysaccharide of C_s pneumococcal strains. Immunologic analysis has shown that both the C and C_s polysaccharides of a variety of pneumococcal strains are heterogeneous and that the dissimilarities appear to reside in the mucopeptide portion of the molecule or in the region of its attachment to the teichoic acid moiety of the molecule rather than in the teichoic acid fraction. Differences of the type described have been observed in the C polysaccharides of wild-type capsulated strains of several types, in those of independently isolated noncapsulated variants derived from a single strain of a given capsular type, and in the C and C_s polysaccharides of spontaneous mutant or transformed strains of pneumococci producing capsules of C_s polysaccharide.