The relationship between the structures of the O polysaccharides from Escherichia coli O17 and O16

The chemical structure of the O16 antigen from the lipopolysaccharide of Escherischia coli strain P4 has been determined. Comparison with the structures of other O16 antigens and that of the O17 antigen explains the previously reported cross-reaction of O antigen from the O16 strain K-12 with anti-O17 antibody [D. Liu and P.R. Reeves, Microbiology, 140 (1994) 49–57].