An analysis of the fatty acid composition of total lipids from mycoplasmas

Abstract

The fatty acid composition of the total lipids obtained from 9 species (22 strains) of Mycoplasma and 3 species (7 strains) of Acholeplasma was determined by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). The major fatty acids of the Mycoplasma species were palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:1), and linoleic acid (C18:2). Lauric acid (C12:0) and myristic acid (C14:0) were present in small amounts in this genus. For the Mycoplasma species, the most prevalent fatty acid was C16:0 or C14:0, and other leading fatty acids were C12:0, C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2. A substantial amount of C12:0 and C14:0 was found in the Acholeplasma species. It was confirmed that C12:0 and C14:0 were synthesized de novo, based on the fact that 14C-acetate was incorporated into these acids. The total percentage of C16 fatty acid was less than that of C18 fatty acids in all the strains of Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma except 4 strains. This may be related to osmo-regulation of the L-forms of Streptococci as mentioned in other reports.