Fr. Tularensis

Francisella tularensis is a small, nonmotile, aerobic, gram-negative coccobacillus. Ithas a thin lipopolysaccharide-containing envelope and is a hardynon–spore-forming organism that survives for weeks at low temperatures inwater, moist soil, hay, straw, and decaying animal carcasses.Lipopolysaccaride (LPS) is a main species-specific antigen of Francisellatularensis. According to the data available LPS of tularemia microbe differsfrom LPS of other gram-negative bacteria. LPS of tularemia microbe hasn't yetrevealed the properties of classical endotoxin, which may be connected withnon-typical structure of lipid A – a toxic component of LPS.