Some unusual fatty acids of Rhizobium

Neutral Lipids and Phospholipids of Free-Living and Bacteroid Forms of Two Strains of Rhizobium Infective on Lotus pedunculatus

The neutral lipids and phospholipids of two strains of rhizobia in their free-living state and in symbiosis with a host plant are described. The principal lipid classes found were the polymer poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate, phospholipids, free fatty acids, glycerides, methyl esters, aliphatic alcohols, and hydrocarbons. The lipids include unusual unsaturated methyl-branched and saturated methoxy-branched fatty acids. Most components were found to be common to both forms of both strains, although the proportions varied. A number of strain differences could be discerned.

The polar lipid composition of Mesorhizobium ciceri

The extractable lipid composition of Mesorhizobium ciceri strain HAMBI 1750 grown in a phosphate sufficient medium (79CA) is reported. Cardiolipin (CL-27% of total lipids), phosphatidylglycerol (PG-18%), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE-1%), phosphatidylcholine (PC-30%) and two methylated derivatives of PE, i.e. phosphatidyl-N, N-dimethylethanolamine (DMPE-1%) and phosphatidyl-N-monomethylethanolamine (MMPE-1%), were found to make up the phospholipids of the analysed bacteria. Nonphosphorus, ornithine-containing lipid (OL-10%) was also detected. Polar groups of phospholipids were predominantly acylated with cis-11,12-methyleneoctadecanoyl (lactobacillic) residues, whereas the ornithine lipid contained mainly 3-hexadecanoyloxy-11,12-methyleneoctadecanoic acid bound to the alpha-amino group.

Lipid composition and taxonomy of [Pseudomonas] echinoides: transfer to the genus Sphingomonas

Lipid components of [Pseudomonas] echinoides NCIMB 9420 have been studied as an aid to taxonomic relocation of the organism. Non-polar lipids include the carotenoid nostoxanthin and the ubiquinone Q-10. The major fatty acids are cis-vaccenic acid [18:1(11c)], hexadecanoic acid (16:0) and 2-hydroxy-tetradecanoic acid (2-OH-14:0), but 11-methyloctadec-11-enoic acid[11-Me-18:1(11)] is a significant minor component. The preponderant phospholipids are phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol; minor lipids include bis(phosphatidyl)glycerol and an unidentified aminophospholipid. Several glycolipids are present, the major one being a glucuronosylceramide derived from sphinganine with amide-bound 2-OH-14:0. The lipid profile supports a proposal to reclassify the organism as Sphingomonas echinoides.

Rhizobium meliloti mutants deficient in phospholipid N-methyltransferase still contain phosphatidylcholine

Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is the major membrane-forming phospholipid in eukaryotes. In addition to this structural function, PC is thought to play a major role in lipid turnover and signalling in eukaryotic systems. In prokaryotes, only some groups of bacteria, among them the members of the family Rhizobiaceae, contain PC. To understand the role of PC in bacteria, we have studied Rhizobium meliloti 1021, which is able to form nitrogen-fixing nodules on its legume host plants and therefore has a very complex phenotype. R. meliloti was mutagenized with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, and potential mutants defective in phospholipid N-methyltransferase were screened by using a colony autoradiography procedure. Filters carrying lysed replicas of mutagenized colonies were incubated with S-adenosyl-L-[methyl-14C]methionine. Enzymatic transfer of methyl groups to phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) leads to the formation of PC and therefore to the incorporation of radiolabel into lipid material. Screening of 24,000 colonies for reduced incorporation of radiolabel into lipids led to the identification of seven mutants which have a much-reduced specific activity of phospholipid N-methyltransferase. In vivo labelling of mutant lipids with [14C]acetate showed that the methylated PC biosynthesis intermediates phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine and phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine are no longer detectable. This loss is combined with a corresponding increase in the potential methyl acceptor PE. These results indicate that PC biosynthesis via the methylation pathway is indeed blocked in the mutants isolated. However, mass spectrometric analysis of the lipids shows that PC was still present when the mutants had been grown on complex medium and that it was present in the mutants in wild-type amounts. In vivo labelling with [methyl-14C]methionine shows that in phospholipid N-methyltransferase-deficient mutants, the choline moiety of PC is not formed by methylation. These findings suggest the existence of a second pathway for PC biosynthesis in Rhizobium.

The effect of different temperatures on the fatty acid composition of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae in the faba bean symbiosis

Fatty acid composition was determined in cells of strains CBhS and CBp7 of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae grown at four temperatures (10, 15, 22 and 30°C), and in bacteroids and nodules formed with faba bean (Vicia faba L.) grown at two day/night temperature regimes (22/15 and 15/10°C). Growth temperature markedly affected the fatty acid composition of free-living bacteria in both strains studied, and both showed similar variations at each temperature. The proportion of unsaturated fatty acids increased significantly with lowering of temperature. The major fatty acid found in bacteria and bacteroids was cis-vaccenic (C18: 1^Δ11 ), which comprised up to c. 78 (bacteria) and 56% (bacteroids) of total fatty acids. The presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic (C18:^Δ,9,12 ) and linolenic (C18:3^Δ9,12,15 ) acids) was noted only in bacteroids, indicating changes following the differentiation of bacteria into bacteroids in the nodules. The fatty acid composition of nodules was similar to that of bacteroids, although major differences were found in their proportions. The different day/night temperature regimes had contrasting effects in bacteroids and in nodules. In bacteroids of both strains, the proportions of stearic (C18:0) and linoleic (C18:^Δ9,12 ) acids decreased at the lower temperature regime. In nodules, the proportion of stearic (C18:0) acid decreased, while that of linolenic (C18:3^Δ9,12,15 ) acid increased at the lower temperature regime. However, those of cis-vaccenic (C18:1^Δ11 ), linoleic (C18:^Δ9,12,15 ) and palmitic (C16:0) acids increased or decreased depending on the rhizobial strain. The proportion of unsaturated fatty acids increased with the lowering of temperatures in bacteroids of both strains, and varied in whole nodules depending on the strain. Strain CBp7 showed a greater symbiotic efficiency (dry matter yield) than strain CBh5 under both temperature regimes, but no relationship was found with the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids of bacteria, bacteroids or nodules.

Analysis of the lipid moiety of lipopolysaccharide from Rhizobium tropici CIAT899: identification of 29-hydroxytriacontanoic acid

The lipid moieties of two lipid A's isolated from the phenolic and aqueous fractions of lipopolysaccharide from Rhizobium tropici CIAT899 have been studied. Several 3-hydroxy fatty acids and two long-chain hydroxy fatty acids, 27-hydroxyoctacosanoic acid, and 29-hydroxytriacontanoic acid were identified; the ratios of these acids are the same in both lipid A's. These results can be used for chemotaxonomic purposes.

Phospholipid and fatty acid compositions of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii ANU843 in relation to flavone-activated pSym nod gene expression

The phospholipid and associated fatty acid compositions of the bacterial symbiont of clover, Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii wild-type ANU843, was analyzed by two-dimensional silica thin-layer chromatography, fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry, flame-ionization detection gas-liquid chromatography and combined gas-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The phospholipid composition included phosphatidylethanolamine (15%), N-methylphosphatidylethanolamine (47%), N,N-dimethylphosphatidylethanolamine (9%), phosphatidylglycerol (19%), cardiolipin (5%) and phosphatidylcholine (2%). Fatty acid composition included predominantly cis-11-octadecenoic acid, lower levels of cis-9-hexadecenoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, 11-methyl-11-octadecenoic acid, octadecanoic acid, 11,12-methyleneoctadecanoic acid, eicosanoic acid and traces of branched, and di- and triunsaturated fatty acids. The influence of expression of the "nodulation" genes encoding symbiotic functions on the composition of these membrane lipids was examined in wild-type cells grown with or without the flavone inducer, 4',7-dihydroxyflavone and in mutated cells lacking the entire symbiotic plasmid where these genes reside, or containing single transposon insertions in selected nodulation genes. No significant changes in phospholipid or associated fatty acid compositions were detected by the above methods of analysis.

Methoxylated fatty acids reported in Rhizobium isolates arise from chemical alterations of common fatty acids upon acid-catalyzed transesterification procedures

We obtained from a phospholipid extract of wild-type Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii ANU843 methoxylated fatty acids that had been previously reported as constitutive unusual Rhizobium fatty acids. The use of deuterated reagents and subsequent gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses showed that these methoxylated fatty acid derivatives are the products of chemical alterations of common cyclopropane-containing and unsaturated fatty acids occurring during various acid-catalyzed transesterification treatments aimed at producing the methyl ester derivatives. Similar results were obtained from a phospholipid extract of Escherichia coli K-12. In contrast, these chemical alterations were not induced by an alkaline methanolysis method of transesterification. If an acidic treatment is needed to release the fatty acids from the source molecule, the finding of unusual methoxylated fatty acids should be carefully confirmed with deuterated reagents.

Cellular fatty acid compositions of an unidentified organism and a bacterium associated with cat scratch disease

The cellular fatty acid composition of a gram-negative bacterium associated with cat scratch disease was determined by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The fatty acid profile of this organism was distinct from those of other bacteria we have tested and was characterized by an unknown acid which was identified as 11-methyloctadec-12-enoic acid. The position of the branched methyl group in this acid was established by GC-MS of the reduced acid, and the location of the double bond was confirmed by GC-MS analysis of dimethyl disulfide derivatives. Another clinical isolate with no known relationship to cat scratch disease but with similar morphological and biochemical features had a similar fatty acid profile, including 11-methyloctadec-12-enoic acid.

Remote group derivatives: limitations on the effectiveness of pyrrolidide derivatives of oxygen-containing fatty acids

The pyrrolidides of a number of fatty acids containing oxygen functions (ether linkage, epoxide ring and hydroxyl group) have been prepared and their mass spectra recorded. Detailed analyses of these, supported by accurate mass measurement, indicate that the presence of the oxygen atom has a profound effect on the normal, sequential, mode of pyrrolidide fragmentation. Cleavage adjacent to the oxygen is enhanced, this being most marked in the spectra of those compounds containing an ether linkage. However, further fragmentation of the carbon chain distal to the pyrrolidide group is minimal and prevents any structural information being obtained. These findings indicate that the usefulness of the pyrrolidide derivative for structural elucidation purposes is severely limited in some cases when an oxygen atom is present in the chain. However, for both the epoxy- and hydroxy-fatty acids, complementary derivatization methods are available.