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Influence of the growth substrate on the mycolic acid profiles of mycobacteria
Author(s) -
Wick Lukas Y.,
Wattiau Pierre,
Harms Hauke
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1046/j.1462-2920.2002.00340.x
Subject(s) - mycolic acid , biology , mycobacterium , bacteria , biochemistry , substrate (aquarium) , microbiology and biotechnology , cell wall , genetics , ecology
Summary The influence of growth substrates on mycolic acid profiles of PAH‐degrading Mycobacterium spp. LB501T, LB307T and VM552 was examined by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using glucose, alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) or Luria–Bertani medium (LB) as the sole carbon source. The substrates gave rise to varying mycolic acid profiles, as bacteria growing on poorly water‐soluble substrates exhibited more hydrophobic mycolic acids than cells grown on glucose. Our results indicate that mycobacteria respond to the growth substrate by changing the mycolic acid composition of their cell wall, pointing at the importance of the growth substrate for mycolic acid profiling as an identification method of actinomycetes.