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. 1972 Dec;112(3):1288–1294. doi: 10.1128/jb.112.3.1288-1294.1972

Phospholipid Composition and Metabolism of Micrococcus denitrificans

Brian J Wilkinson a, Manuel R Morman a, David C White a,1
PMCID: PMC251561  PMID: 4640503

Abstract

The phospholipid composition of Micrococcus denitrificans was unusual in that phosphatidyl choline (PC) was a major phospholipid (30.9%). Other phospholipids were phosphatidyl glycerol (PG, 52.4%), phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE, 5.8%), an unknown phospholipid (5.3%), cardiolipin (CL, 3.2%), phosphatidyl dimethylethanolamine (PDME, 0.9%), phosphatidyl monomethylethanolamine (PMME, 0.6%), phosphatidyl serine (PS, 0.5%), and phosphatidic acid (0.4%). Kinetics of 32P incorporation suggested that PC was formed by the successive methylations of PE. Pulse-chase experiments with pulses of 32P or acetate-1-14C to exponentially growing cells showed loss of isotopes from PMME, PDME, PS, and CL with biphasic kinetics suggesting the same type of multiple pools of these lipids as proposed in other bacteria. The major phospholipids, PC, PG, and PE, were metabolically stable under these conditions. The fatty acids isolated from the complex lipids were also unusual in being a simple mixture of seven fatty acids with oleic acid representing 86% of the total. Few free fatty acids and no non-extractable fatty acids associated with the cell wall or membrane were found.

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Selected References

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