Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 10, 528-534, September 1969
Copyright © 1969 by Lipid Research, Inc.

Identification of ceramide phosphorylethanolamine and ceramide phosphorylglycerol in the lipids of an anaerobic bacterium

J. Parker LaBach and David C. White

Department of Biochemistry, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky 40506

Nearly half the phospholipids isolated from the anerobic bacterium Bacteroides melaninogenicus are phosphosphingolipids. The two major phosphosphingolipids have been characterized as ceramide phosphorylethanolamine and ceramide phosphorylglycerol. The long-chain bases of these phosphosphingolipids appear to have branched and normal saturated carbon chains of 17, 18, and 19 atoms; the phosphate is at the 1-position of the long-chain base. The composition of the amide-linked fatty acids of the phosphosphingolipids differs from that of the ester-linked fatty acids of the diacylphosphoglycerides in having a higher percentage of 14:0, 17:0, and 18:0 acids as well as containing nearly all the monoenoic fatty acids found in the bacterial lipids.

The finding of phosphosphingolipids in bacteria is exceedingly rare and to our knowledge ceramide phosphorylglycerol has not been previously found in nature.

Supplementary key words Bacteroides melanino-genicus • phosphesphingolipids • fatty acid composition • long-chain base composition

Submitted on December 9, 1968
Accepted on May 7, 1969

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