Rhodococcus equi is a major cause of foal morbidity and mortality. We have investigated the
presence of lipoglycan in this organism as closely related bacteria, notablyMycobacterium
tuberculosis, produce lipoarabinomannans (LAM) that may play multiple roles as virulence
determinants. The lipoglycan was structurally characterized by gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry following permethylation, capillary electrophoresis after chemical degradation,
and 1 H and 31 P and two-dimensional heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance studies …