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The Role of Bacterial Polysaccharide Capsules as Virulence Factors

  • Conference paper
Bacterial Capsules

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology ((CT MICROBIOLOGY,volume 150))

Abstract

Carbohydrates are universally present on the surface of living cells. On eukaryotic cells, many different carbohydrates are attached as glycoproteins and glycolipids; the oligosaccharide moieties are known to act as receptors and it seems likely that they play an important role in cell-to-cell recognition processes. Polysaccharide capsules, in prokaryotes characteristically composed of repeating oligosaccharides, are found on the surface of many bacteria. These capsules are typically composed of only one polysaccharide and lie outside the outer membrane of gram-negative cells and the peptidoglycan layer of gram-positive cells. In general, individual bacteria do not exhibit variation of these antigens as has been described for the variant glycoproteins of trypanosomes (Cross1978). Comprising 99% water, these highly hydrated, polyanionic polysaccharide capsules serve many functions. These include determining access of molecules and ions to the bacterial cell envelope and the cytoplasmic membrane, the promotion of adherence to the surfaces of inanimate objects or living cells and the formation of biofilms and microcolonies (Costerton and Irwin1981). Among certain gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, capsules have evolved distinctive structural and functional characteristics which are of cardinal importance in the pathogenesis of infections of animals, plants and insects (Sutherland1977).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Infectious Diseases Group, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford, UK

    E. R. Moxon & J. S. Kroll

  2. Department of Paediatrics, Oxford University , John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK

    E. R. Moxon & J. S. Kroll

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  1. E. R. Moxon
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  2. J. S. Kroll
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  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Immunbiologie, Stübeweg 51, 7800, Freiburg, Germany

    Klaus Jann  & Barbara Jann  & 

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Moxon, E.R., Kroll, J.S. (1990). The Role of Bacterial Polysaccharide Capsules as Virulence Factors. In: Jann, K., Jann, B. (eds) Bacterial Capsules. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 150. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74694-9_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74694-9_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

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