Structure of the O-polysaccharide of Escherichia coli O132

•E. coli O132 is Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.•Structure of the O-polysaccharide of E. coli O132 was established.•The O-antigen gene cluster of E. coli O132 has been analyzed.

Mild acid degradation of the lipopolysaccharide of Escherichia coli O132 released its O-polysaccharide. Analysis by 1D and 2D 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy prior and subsequent to O-deacetylation, in conjunction with sugar analysis, revealed a linear pentasaccharide repeating unit of the O-polysaccharide having the following structure:→2)-α-d-Galf-(1→3)-α-l-Rhap2Ac-(1→4)-α-d-Glcp-(1→2)-α-l-Rhap-(1→3)-β-d-GlcpNAc-(1→Putative functions of genes in the O-antigen gene cluster of E. coli O132 are consistent with the O-polysaccharide structure.

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