Core oligosaccharide of Escherichia coli B—the structure required for bacteriophage T4 recognition

•The Escherichia coli B is a main host of bacteriophage T4.•The structure of core oligosaccharide of E. coli B has been established.•The presence of the glycine residue was identified by ESI MS/MS analysis.

The structure of Escherichia coli B strain PCM 1935 core oligosaccharide has been investigated by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, MALDI-TOF MS and ESI MSn. It was concluded that the core oligosaccharide is a pentasaccharide with the following structure:ESI MS/MS analysis revealed that the glycine (a minor component) is linked to the →3,7)-l-α-d-Hepp-(1→ residue.

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