Rough mutants of Salmonella typhimurium with defects in the heptose region of the lipopolysaccharide core

Abstract

Six rough mutants of Salmonella typhimurium LT2 with defects in the heptose region of the lipopolysaccharide were isolated and analyzed for phage sensitivity, for sugar composition and serological specificity of the lipopolysaccharide, and for genetic properties. Three of the mutants were of chemotype Rd2, with mutations presumably in the rfaF gene. Three mutants of chemotype Re represent mutants in at least two separate genes, one perhaps rfaE and the other a previously undescribed gene rfaC, which maps in the cluster of rfa genes at 116 min on the linkage map.