SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE 3-HYDROXY FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION OF MYCOBACTERIA

Mycobacterial cell walls have been shown to contain type-specific anti genic glycolipids, such as phenolic glycolipids, glycopeptidolipids (G PL), and trehalose-containing lipooligosaccharides (LOS) (4, 5). Long- chain 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH-FAs) have been identified in several glycolipids, for example, in GPL from Mycobacterium peregrinum and M. smegmatis (7, 12), in LOS from M. szulgai and M. tuberculosis Canetti (9, 10), and in acyltrehaloses from M. tuberculosis Canetti and H37Rv (3, 6). Furthermore, 3-OH-FAs have been detected in other bioactive m ycobacterial structures, i.e., in ornithine-amide lipids and in lipope ptides in rough mutants of M. avium (2, 11). The present work was unde rtaken to systematically study the 3-OH-FA composition of several clin ically important mycobacteria.