LIPOAMINO ACIDS ISOLATED FROM ACIDIPHILIUM-ORGANOVORUM

Acidiphilium species possessed high amounts (33 to 43% of the total li pids) of phosphorous-free lipoamino acids. Two major lipoamino acids ( OL1 and OL2) were isolated from Acidiphilium organovorum and shown to be alpha-N-3-hydroxystearylornithyltaurine (OL1) and alpha-N-3-hydroxy stearylornithine (OL2), to which the fatty acid C18:1 is linked by an ester-linkage to the hydroxy fatty acid. The lipids OL1 and OL2 had gr eater Rf values than those of Acidomonas species by thin-layer chromat ography. This information could be useful for the differentiation betw een Acidiphilium and Acidomonas species. In addition, Acidiphilium spe cies produced phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and phosp hatidylcholine as the major phospholipids.