02722nas a2200313   4500000000100000008004100001260000900042653001400051653002700065653003100092653002000123653001800143653001600161653004100177653001200218653001100230653001800241653001800259100001300277700001200290700001300302700001800315700001300333245012900346300001100475490000600486520190200492022001402394       1993                            d  c199310aCell Wall10aChemical Fractionation10aChromatography, Thin Layer10aCorynebacterium10aCulture Media10aFatty Acids10aGas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry10aleprosy10aLipids10aMycolic Acids10aStearic Acids1 aGailly C1 aDavid F1 aSandra P1 aLanéelle M A1 aCocito C00aLipid composition of leprosy-derived corynebacteria, a distinct group of corynebacteria, and of a reference Corynebacterium.  a99-1160 v43 a<p>Leprosy-derived corynebacteria (LDC) are diphtheroid organisms isolated from leprosy patients and previously characterized by DNA and cell wall analysis. Three groups of LDC components of taxonomic value, glycolipids, and phospholipids and cell-wall-bound lipids were analyzed in comparison with those of a reference strain C. hoffmannii (CH). The main CH glycolipid, "cord factor" (trehalose dimycolate), was missing from LDC. Among phospholipids, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylglycerol had lowered proportions in LDC, as compared to CH, whereas phosphatidylethanolamine and cardiolipin were absent from both microorganisms. Bound lipids in acidic extracts of delipidated LDC yielded arabinose corynomycolate in lesser quantity with respect to CH. Alkaline hydrolysis of whole cells released fatty acids and mycolic acids, which were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Reference CH, grown in the absence of serum, yielded C16:0 and C18:1 (major) and C18:0 (minor) fatty acids, as well as C32, C34, and C36 corynomycolic acids. All these components, particularly mycolates, had lowered proportions when this organism was grown in the presence of serum. Dominant LDC components were, in addition to C16:0, C18:0, and CI8:u fatty acids, cholesterol from serum. Very low concentrations of corynomycolic acids with a high degree of unsaturation were found in these organisms, suggesting a dependence of lipid metabolism on growth conditions. The presence in LDC of tuberculostearic acid (C19r:0), a mycobacterial component found in some pathogenic corynebacteria, was carefully explored: Traces of C19r:0 were found in LDC 19 grown in the presence of delipidated serum, but not in LDC 15 nor in C. hoffmannii. Present data, in conjunction with previous studies on DNA and mycolic acids, disclose basic differences in the composition of LDC and conventional corynebacteria.</p>  a0898-2848