Complex lipids of a lipolytic and general-fatty-acid-requiring Butyrivibrio sp. isolated from the ovine rumen

The complex lipids of the naturally-occurring general-fatty-acid-auxotroph Butyrivibrio S2 [Hazlewood & Dawson (1979) J. Gen. Microbiol. 112, 15-27] grown with palmitic acid as sole fatty-acid supplement have been investigated and some have been isolated in a state of purity and analysed. The majority are phospholipids (84%) and many contain galactose. They typically possess few esterified long-chain fatty-acid residues (C16:0), but are rich in esterified butyric acid and C16-alkenyl groups. Most of the phosphorus-containing lipids, including the two major lipids of the organism, contain esterified diabolic acid, a long-chain vicinal dimethyl-substituted dicarboxylic acid [Klein, Hazlewood, Kemp & Dawson (1979) Biochem. J. 183, 691-700] in definite stoichiometric relationship to phosphorus. No phosphatidylglycerol was present, but its monobutyroyl ester was detected as a minor component. Galactofuranosyldiacylglycerol (plasmalogen) and its monobutyroyl ester, cetyl alcohol and diacylglycerol were also identified.