Comparison of proteins involved in chondroitin sulfate utilization by three clonic Bacteroides species

Three species of colonic bacteria can ferment the mucopolysaccharide chondroitin sulfate: Bacteroides ovatus, Bacteroides sp. strain 3452A (an unnamed DNA homology group), and B. thetaiotaomicron . Proteins associated with the utilization of chondroitin sulfate by B. thetaiotaomicron have been characterized previously. In this report they compare chondroitin lyases and chondroitin sulfate-associated outer membrane polypeptides of B. ovatus and Bacteroides sp. strain 3452A with those of B. thetaiotaomicron . All three species produce two soluble cell-associated chondroitin lyases, chondroitin lyase I and II. Purified enzymes from the three species have similar pH optima, K sub(m) values, and molecular weights. The ability of intact bacteria to utilize chondroitin sulfate, as indicated by growth yields in carbohydrate-limited continuous culture and the rate at which the chondroitin lyases were induced, was the same for all three species.