Structure of the O polysaccharides and serological classification of Pseudomonas syringae pv. porri from genomospecies 4

Strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. porri are characterized by a number of pathovar-specific phenotypic and genomic characters and constitute a highly homogeneous group. Using monoclonal antibodies, they all were classified in a novel P. syringae serogroup O9. The O polysaccharides (OPS) isolated from the lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of P. syringae pv. porri NCPPB 3365 and NCPPB 3364T possess multiple oligosaccharide O repeats, some of which are linear and composed of l-rhamnose (l-Rha), whereas the major O repeats are branched with l-rhamnose in the main chain and GlcNAc in side chains (structures 1 and 2). Both branched O repeats, which differ in the position of substitution of one of the Rha residues and in the site of attachment of GlcNAc, were found in the two strains studied, O repeat 1 being major in strain NCPPB 3365 and 2 in strain NCPPB 3364T. The relationship between OPS chemotype and serotype on one hand and the genomic characters of P. syringae pv. porri and other pathovars delineated in genomospecies 4 on the other hand is fdiscussed.