Journal of Lipid Research, Vol 35, 1452-1461, Copyright © 1994 by Lipid Research, Inc.

ARTICLES

Occurrence of sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol in some members of the family Rhizobiaceae

RA Cedergren and RI Hollingsworth
Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824- 1319.

A radiolabeled component of a membrane extract of Rhizobium meliloti 2011 cells grown in the presence of 35S-labeled sulfate was isolated by silica flash chromatography and purified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Based on 1- and 2-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic and mass spectrometric analyses, the structure of the compound was determined to be sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol (SQDG). NMR analyses indicated substantial heterogeneity in the fatty acid composition and that an important group was the cyclopropyl fatty acids. This first report of the occurrence of SQDG outside of the plant kingdom, photosynthetic bacteria or diatoms deserves special attention as, in this case, the bacterium is one that can fix nitrogen in symbiosis with plants. The origins of the bacterium's ability to synthesize this class of membrane lipids is an important question. Membrane extracts of other strains of the family Rhizobiaceae were screened for the presence of SQDG. The occurrence of SQDG in the symbiotic organisms was confirmed, while no SQDG was detected in either the Agrobacterium tumefaciens or the Escherichia coli strains tested. The current function of these lipids in symbiosis and the commonality of the ability of bacteria that function as plant symbionts to synthesize such molecules are all germane to studies of the Rhizobium/legume symbiosis.
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