CHARACTERIZATION OF THE FAMILY PASTEURELLACEAE ON THE BASIS OF CELLULAR LIPIDS AND CARBOHYDRATES

Selected strains representing established and newly described taxa in the family Pasteurellaceae were investigated for their cellular lipid and carbohydrate composition to clarify the taxonomic significance of such features. Methylated cellular fatty acids and acetylated derivati ves of the cellular carbohydrates were determined by capillary gas chr omatography using a flame ionization detector. In part the carbohydrat es were identified by mass spectrometry. Phospholipids were determined by thin layer chromatography, the lipoquinones by high pressure liqui d chromatography. The cellular fatty acid patterns proved to be unifor m with minor variations, but the separation from the Neisseriaceae and from Moraxella was possible. Also the distribution of the phospholipi ds was uniform within the family. The lipoquinone contents were useful for the discrimination of groups within the family not necessarily re flecting the degree of genomic relatedness. The analysis of the cellul ar carbohydrates resulted in a common sugar pattern with all members o f the family and characteristic carbohydrate profiles discriminating g roups, often to the species level. All of the cytochemical features co nsidered were useful for the characterization of the family Pasteurell aceae.