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. 1973 Jul;115(1):253–261. doi: 10.1128/jb.115.1.253-261.1973

Fatty Acids of Myxococcus xanthus

Judith C Ware a,1, Martin Dworkin a
PMCID: PMC246237  PMID: 4197903

Abstract

Fatty acids were extracted from saponified vegetative cells and myxospores of Myxococcus xanthus and examined as the methyl esters by gas-liquid chromatography. The acids consisted mainly of C14 to C17 species. Branched acids predominated, and iso-pentadecanoic acid constituted half or more of the mixture. The other leading component (11–28%) was found to be 11-n-hexadecenoic acid. Among the unsaturated acids were two diunsaturated ones, an n-hexadecadienoic acid and an iso-heptadecadienoic acid. No significant differences between the fatty acid compositions of the vegetative cells and myxospores could be detected. The fatty acid composition of M. xanthus was found to be markedly similar to that of Stigmatella aurantiaca. It is suggested that a fatty acid pattern consisting of a large proportion of iso-branched C15 and C17 acids and a substantial amount of an n-16:1 acid is characteristic of myxobacteria.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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