Abstract
The fatty acid distribution of three mesophilic and three thermophilic strains of the genus Bacillus was determined by gas chromatography of the fatty acid methyl esters. Fatty acid i-15:0 was the most abundant in both the mesophiles (51%) and the thermophiles (41%). The second most abundant fatty acid was a-15:0 in the mesophiles (22%), and i-17:0 in the thermophiles (27%). The fatty acid pair i-15:0, i-17:0 was the most predominant pair in both the mesophiles (61%) and the thermophiles (66%). The fatty acid pair a-15:0, a-17:0 was the second most predominant pair and was much higher in the mesophiles (30%) than in the thermophiles (15%). The average fatty acid chain length was 15.5 for the mesophiles and 16.0 for the thermophiles. The significance of these results for the lipid theory of thermophily is discussed.
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