BIOTIN DEFICIENCY AND THE FATTY ACIDS OF CERTAIN BIOTIN-REQUIRING BACTERIA.

Croom, Jo A. (North Carolina State of the University of North Carolina, Raleigh), J. J. McNeill, and S. B. Tove. Biotin deficiency and the fatty acids of certain biotin-requiring bacteria. J. Bacteriol. 88:389-394. 1964.-The major fatty acids of Lactobacillus plantarum were identified as myristic, palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, cis-vaccenic, and lactobacillic. Small amounts of a C(14)-monoenoic acid were also found. The major acids of a biotin-requiring mutant of Escherichia coli were lauric, myristic, palmitic, palmitoleic, methylene-hexadecanoic, octadecenoic, and methylene-octadecanoic. The C(16)-monoenoic acid fraction of E. coli also contained small amounts of 7,8-hexadecenoate. The C(18)-monoenoic acid fraction contained 9,10-octadecenoic acid (oleic), with small amounts of 7,8-octadecenoic. Two other components, which had properties similar to tridecanoic and pentadecanoic acids, were also found. Biotin deficiency in L. plantarum decreased the relative amounts of cis-vaccenic and lactobacillic acids, and increased palmitic acid. In E. coli there was no change in the proportion of palmitic acid, whereas there were increases in monoenoic acids and a decreased level of methylene-hexadecanoic acid. In L. plantarum, palmitic and lactobacillic acids increased with age, and cis-vaccenic decreased sharply. In biotin deficiency, there was a decrease of about 20% in total lipid of L. plantarum.