Thin-layer Chromatographic Analysis of Mycolic Acid and Other Long-chain Components in Whole-organism Methanolysates of Coryneform and Related Taxa

Abstract

S U M M A R YAcid methanolysates of strains representing 58 coryneform taxa were examined for mycolic acids and other long-chain constituents by thin-layer chromatography. Mycolic esters were detected in the methanolysates of true corynebacteria but not in those from plant pathogenic bacteria, Corynebacterium haemolyticum, Corynebacterium pyogenes or from representatives of the genera Arthrobacter, Cellulomonas, Curtobacterium, Kurthia or Oerskovia. Thin-layer chromatography of whole-organism inethanolysates provides a simple method for distinguishing true corynebacteria from coryneforms which do not contain mycolic acids, and from nocardiae and mycobacteria which produce mycolic acids of different mobility. At present the mycolic esters of true corynebacteria cannot be clearly separated from those of some rhodochrous strains.

Renibacterium salmoninarum gen. nov., sp. nov., the Causative Agent of Bacterial Kidney Disease in Salmonid Fishes

“…Glucose was the principal sugar detected. The presence of mycolic acids was not determined in this study; however, Goodfellow et al (10) recently reported the absence of mycolic acids in a strain of KDB (H14) obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Eastern Fish Disease Laboratory, Leetown, W.Va.…”

Fatty and Mycolic Acid Composition of Bacterionema matruchotii and Related Organisms

“…The most mobile fractions (Rp > 0.6) corresponded to methyl esters of long-chain fatty acids and the least mobile components were similar in their migration to methyl esters of mycolic acids isolated from strains of true corynebacteria (Minnikin et al, 1975;Goodfellow et al, Methyl esters of long-chain fatty acids were examined by gas chromatography ( Table 2). Each fatty-acid profile consisted mainly of mixtures of straight-chain and unsaturated components, but in extracts of two strains (B57 and ~5 9 ) small amounts of an unidentified component, possibly a C1, branched-chain ester, were detected.…”

“…The mycolic acids which occur in true corynebacteria (Jones, 1975;Goodfellow et al, 1976) are of relatively low molecular weight (20 , 1970;Yano & Saito, 1972). At the other extreme, mycobacteria usually contain complex mixtures of mycolic acids (Minnikin, Alshamaony & Goodfellow, 1975) of high molecular weight (60 to go carbon atoms) (Etemadi, 1967).…”

“…There is good evidence that lipid markers are of value in classifying coryneform and nocardioform taxa (Lechevalier, & Minnikin, 1976a;Alshamaony ef al., 19763;Goodfellow, Collins & Minnikin, 1976). Mycolic acids, i.e.…”

Chemical Studies as a Guide to the Classification of Corynebacterium pyogenes and 'Corynebacterium haemolyticum'

“…However, the species bears little similarity to other animal pathogenic corynebacteria and its retention within the genus Corynebacterium has been questioned by several workers (Barksdale et al, 1957;Cummins & Harris, 1956;Barksdale, 1970;Goodfellow et al, 1976;Jones, 1975;Minnikin et al, 1978). In addition, the relationship of C. pyogenes to the species Corynebacterium haemolyticum (MacLean et al, 1946) remains unclear.…”