A CHEMOTAXONOMIC APPRAISAL OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF LIPOMANNANS WITHIN THE GENUS MICROCOCCUS

Additional chemotaxonomic markers are needed to assist in the taxonomi c restructuring of the actinomycete genus Micrococcus. Eight of the sp ecies currently assigned to the genus Micrococcus have been investigat ed for the presence of lipoglycan. Macroamphiphilic carbohydrate-conta ining fractions were purified from phenol extracts by hydrophobic inte raction chromatography. The presence of lipoglycans rather than lipote ichoic acids was demonstrated by chemical analysis. Analysis of the ca rbohydrates present indicated that all the lipoglycans were lipomannan s, thereby confirming that lipomannans are distributed throughout the genus Micrococcus. The lipomannans exhibited several different pattern s of fatty acid composition, as for the micrococcal whole cells. The p resence of lipomannans in both Micrococcus and related genera, notably Rothia and Stomatococcus, may prove a useful marker at the supragener ic level.