IDENTIFICATION OF N-DELTA-ACETYLORNITHINE AS A NOVEL OSMOLYTE IN SOMEGRAM-POSITIVE HALOPHILIC EUBACTERIA

In the course of a screening programme for novel natural substances ac ting as compatible solutes, an unusual amino acid derivative was detec ted in several halophilic Gram-positive eubacteria. The compound was i solated and subsequently identified as N(delta)-acetylornithine using spectroscopic (NMR, MS) and chromatographic methods. So far, N(delta)- acetylornithine has only been described as an excretion product of som e bacteria under certain growth conditions. This report describes, for the first time, its intracellular accumulation and use as a compatibl e solute in halophilic/halotolerant eubacteria.