The Glycocalyx of Mollicutes
James M. Daubenspeck, David S. Jordan and Kevin Dybvig
from: Mollicutes: Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis (Edited by: Glenn F. Browning and Christine Citti). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2014)
Abstract
Virtually all bacteria have a glycocalyx, a sugar shell, and probably all bacterial pulmonary pathogens produce a capsule under appropriate conditions. The glycomoeities produced by these bacteria are often critical for immune evasion and survival in the animal host. The mycoplasmas are no exception. Most, if not all, mycoplasmas that are animal pathogens produce polysaccharides, glycolipids and glycoproteins. In addition, the mycoplasmas can and do adsorb glycoconjugates from their environment that are incorporated into the glycocalyx and serve to further camouflage the organism from host immunity. The adsorption of host molecules contributes to the difficulty in determining which glycoconjugates are produced by the mollicutes. The machinery for glycoconjugate synthesis in mycoplasmas is for the most part unknown. Some mycoplasmal glycosyltransferases closely resemble those of other bacteria and thus are implicated in the synthesis of glycolipids. The machinery for polysaccharide synthesis in mycoplasmas is currently obscure and potentially novel read more ...
