Tandem mass spectrometric analysis of bacterial lipid A and synthetic glycosyl donors containing the 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucosaminyl moiety

This study presents an interpretation of the mass spectrometry gas-phase fragmentation patterns of the extracted lipid A obtained from the native LPS extracts isolated from Aeromonas Liquefaciencs. This LPS SJ-19 is known to infect various fish species (Atlantic salmon and cod) which are cultivated in aquaculture ventures. The exact molecular structure of the lipid A and the core oligosaccharide region of this Rough bacterium have not yet been precisely established. This thesis presents the mass spectrometric fingerprint identification and structural elucidation of the lipid A from A. Liquefaciencs, which was accomplished via the use of electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS using FTICR, QIT, QHQ-MS/MS) and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS/MS). In this work, tandem-in-time and tandem-in-space mass spectrometry was chosen for the structural elucidation of the lipid A isolated from A. Liquefaciencs SJ-19. The concomitant uses of high-energy and low-energy collision induced dissociation (CIDMS/ MS) analysis were also used to elucidate the MS/MS fingerprints of this complex biomolecule and can be effectively used for any quantitative or qualitative studies. In addition, a novel MS/MS study of a series of 2-acylated-2-deoxy-Dgluosamine glycosyl donors is also presented using ESI-MS/MS tandem-in-space and tandem-in-time mass spectrometry