Abstract
Phospholipid compositions were radiochemically studied on nocardioform and coryneform bacteria. Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) was present in the strains of the genera Corynebacterium, Nocardia, and Mycobacterium. Cardiolipin and phosphatidylglycerol were found in all the genera tested. Sugar-containing phospholipids such as phosphatidyl-inositolmannosides and phosphatidylinositol were present in about half of the genera tested. The genera Corynebacterium was divided into two sub-groups by the phospholipid composition. Corynebacterium strains having a high GC-content exhibited the presence of a large amount of PE and those having a low GC-content a trace amount of PE. Nocardia and Mycobacterium were different from Actinomadura and Oerskovia in the point of phospholipid profile. The phospholipid composition of Nocardia and Mycobacterium was similar to that of the high GC-content group of Corynebacterium. From these findings, the phospholipid composition is considered to be useful for differentiation of coryneform and nocardioform bacteria.
