Fatty Acid and Polar Lipid Composition in the Classification of Cellulomonas, Oerskovia and Related Taxa

Abstract

Strains representing the taxa Cellulomonas, Oerskovia, Brevibacterium fermentans, Corynebacterium manihot and Nocardia cellulans were degraded by acid methanolysis and the non‐hydroxylated fatty acid esters released examined by thin‐layer and gas chromatography. The major fatty acid in all strains was 12‐methyltetradecanoic acid (anteiso C15) which occurred together with other anteiso acids, iso and straight‐chain acids. The fatty acid profiles of the cellulomonads were distinguished by the presence of 13‐carbon acids and significantly higher proportions of straight‐chain acids than found in the other test strains whose profiles were closely similar to one another. Two‐dimensional thin‐layer chromatography showed that almost identical and very characteristic polar lipid patterns were given by all the organisms under study: the only major components were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and two phospho‐glycolipids chromatographing similarly to, but distinguishable from, the mono‐ and diacyl phosphatidylinositol dimannosides characteristic of Nocardia and other actinomycetes. The accumulated lipid data support the reclassification of B. fermentans, Cor. manihot and N. cellulans in the genus Oerskovia.