Lipoamino acids and sulfonolipids in Cytophaga johnsonae Stainer strain C21 six related species of Cytophaga

Cytophaga johnsonae Stanier strain C21 (C. johnsonae C21) contains phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), an unusual glycine-containing lipid (glycine lipid), and two kinds of unidentified lipid as major lipid components. One of the latter lipids was identified by chemical and physicochemical methods as iso-3-hydroxy fatty acid, alpha -amide linked to ornithine and esterified to iso-nonhydroxy fatty acid (ornithine lipid). The other lipid was identified as a sulfonolipid by a tracer experiment using super(35)S. PE, glycine lipid and sulfonolipid were found in all seven species of Cytophaga examined, namely, C. huchinsonii, C. heparina, C. johnsonae C21, C. aquatilis , and three unidentified species of Cytophaga . However, ornithine lipid was found only in the latter five species. By contrast, a serine-containing lipid, which is a specific lipid component of Flavobacterium species, was not found in any species of Cytophaga examined. The possible use and significance of amino acid-containing lipids and sulfonolipids as chemosystematic markers of the Cytophaga species are discussed.