The O-specific polysaccharide was isolated by mild acid degradation of the lipopolysaccharide of the marine bacterium Shewanella fidelis type strain KMM 3582T and studied by sugar analysis along with 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy including one-dimensional NOE in difference mode and two-dimensional experiments. The polysaccharide was found to consist of linear tetrasaccharide repeating units containing Nepsilon-[(S)-1-carboxyethyl]-Nalpha-(D-galacturonoyl)-L-lysine and having the following structure: [See text.] The amide of D-galacturonic acid with Nepsilon-[(S)-1-carboxyethyl]-L-lysine ('alaninolysine', 2S,8S-AlaLys) was found for the first time in nature as a component of the O-specific polysaccharide of Providencia rustigianii O14 (Carbohydr. Res. 2003, 338, 1009-1016).