CANVAS - Broadly protective glycoconjugate vaccines targeting major animal and zoonotic Gram-positive pathogens

Gram-positive bacterium Streptococus suis is a significant pathogen of swine and one of the most important causes of bacterial mortality in piglets after weaning. Currently there is no vaccine available that effectively protects against all S. suis infections. The key antigenic surface polymer of S. suis is the rhamnopolysaccharide which is composed of a repeating →3)α-Rha(1→2)α-Rha(1→ disaccharide backbone modified with glycosyl side-chains. Traditionally, cell wall-attached polysaccharides are used as vaccine candidates due to their uniform expression in bacteria. The goal of this project is to determine the chemical structures of the rhamnopolysaccharides expressed by S. suis strains. This information will be used to design a universal S. suis vaccine.