Components of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), i.e. capsule, O antigen, core oligosaccharide, as well as the toxin-coregulated pili are among the factors which significantly contribute to intestinal colonization by Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139. To further address the contribution of LPS to V. cholerae virulence, we performed in vivo colonization experiments and mucus layer attachment studies with defined LPS and capsule mutants of O1 and O139. We investigated the interaction of V. cholerae strains with the differentiated human intestinal cell line HT29-Rev MTX, and found 3-5-fold reduced efficiencies for attachment by defined LPS and capsule mutants of O1 and O139 in comparison with the wild-type strains. In addition, two O1/O139-specific core oligosaccharide biosynthetic gene products, WavJ and WavD, were characterized and tested for colonization. We demonstrate that single and double knockout mutants in wavJ and wavD have an effect on core oligosaccharide biosynthesis, and that these mutants show an attenuated growth in the presence of novobiocin. Curiously, in the mouse intestinal colonization model, only the O139 wavJ,D mutants demonstrated reduced colonization.