The K218 capsular polysaccharide produced by Acinetobacter baumannii isolate 52-249 includes 5,7-di-N-acetylpseudaminic acid linked by a KpsS3 glycosyltransferase

Two acylated forms of the higher sugar, 5,7-diamino-3,5,7,9-tetradeoxy-L-glycero-L-manno-non-2-ulosonic acid called pseudaminic acid, Pse5Ac7Ac and Pse5Ac7RHb where R indicates (R)-3-hydroxybutanoyl, have been found to occur in many capsular polysaccharide (CPS) types produced by isolates of an important human pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii. The presence of either a psaABCEDF or psaABCGHF gene module at the K locus (KL) for CPS biosynthesis determines the type of the variant produced. Here, an A. baumannii clinical isolate 52-249, recovered in 2015 in Moscow, Russia, was found to include a novel psaABCIJF gene module in the KL218 sequence at the K locus. The CPS from 52-249 was extracted and studied by sugar analysis and partial acid hydrolysis along with one- and two-dimensional ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. A branched tetrasaccharide repeating unit was identified, which included a →3)-α-D-Galp-(1→6)-α-D-GlcpNAc-(1→3)-β-D-GalpNAc-(1→ main chain and Pse5Ac7Ac attached as a side branch, indicating that the psaABCIJF gene module is associated with synthesis of this variant. The K218 CPS was found to be structurally related to the K46 CPS of A. baumannii, and a comparison of the two structures enabled the assignment of glycosyltransferases. A KpsS3 protein for the α-(2→6) linkage of the Pse5Ac7Ac residue to D-Galp in K218 was identified.