Purification and isolation of a biologically active peptido-rhamnogalactan from Sporothrix schenckii.

A biologically active peptido-rhamnogalactan was isolated from disrupted Sporothrix schenckii yeast cells by sodium deoxycholate extraction and was further purified by DEAE-Sephadex A-50 chromatography. This fraction, 60.6% sugar and 3.0% nitrogen, was active in delayed hypersensitivity skin tests in sporotrichosis patients and also cross-reacted serologically with a peptido-rhamnomannan isolated from Sporothrix schenckii culture filtrates. These results suggest strong that L-rhamnose, α-1, 2 linked, is more important in determining the serological specificity of Sporothrix schenckii than the α-1, 3 linked L-rhamnose or the mannan backbone of the peptido-rhamnomannans so far studied by others.