Exopolysaccharides produced by Inquilinus limosus, a new pathogen of cystic fibrosis patients: novel structures with usual components Original Research Article

The major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis, an autosomal recessive disorder, is chronic microbial colonisation of the major airways that leads to exacerbation of pulmonary infection. Several different microbes colonise cystic fibrosis lungs, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most threatening, since the establishment of mucoid (alginate producing) strains is ultimately associated with the patient’s death. Very recently a new bacterium, named Inquilinus limosus, was repeatedly found infecting the respiratory tract of cystic fibrosis patients. Its multi-resistance characteristic to antibiotics might result in the spreading of I. limosus infection among the cystic fibrosis community, as recently happened with strains of the Burkholderia cepacia complex. Since exopolysaccharides are recognised as important virulence factors in lung infections, the primary structure of the polysaccharide produced by I. limosus strain LMG 20952T was investigated as the first step in understanding its role in pathogenesis.[3)-[4,6-O-(1-carboxyethylidene)]-β-d-Glcp(1→]n[2)-[4,6-O-(1-carboxyethylidene)]-α-d-Manp(1→]n