[Study of antigenic determinants of Yersinia pestis lipopolysaccharide using monoclonal antibodies].

Species- and genus-specific antigenic determinants of total serological activity of plague agent lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were detected for the first time with a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) in Y. pestis core polysaccharide in the R-form. MAb specifically bind radicals on one or several monosaccharides of core LPS. Galactose, fucose, and mannose contain common antigenic determinants for enterobacteria; glucosamine, glucose, ribose, xylose, and 2-ketodeoxyoctanoic acid (KDO) contain determinants for Y. pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis; and epitopes differentiating the two latter agents by the carbohydrate component are localized on glucosamine, mannose, xylose, and KDO. Epitopes common for the Enterobacteriaceae family and species-specific epitopes, two of which are identic to core polysaccharide radicals, are situated on Y. pestis lipid A.