EFFECT OF BIOTIN ON FATTY ACID DISTRIBUTION IN ESCHERICHIA COLI.

Gavin, John J. (Rutgers, The State University, New Brunswick, N.J.), and Wayne W. Umbreit. Effect of biotin on fatty acid distribution in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 89:437-443. 1965.-Biotin deficiency causes changes in the composition and distribution of the fatty acids in cell wall-cell membrane fractions of Escherichia coli T 94A. Most notable among the fatty acid changes are decreased amounts of unsaturated fatty acids, the presence of unsaponifiable lipid material, and the lack of a lipopolysaccharide fraction in the cell wall-cell membrane. Also, though the hexane-extractable material from the lipoprotein fraction of biotin-adequate cells will transfer glucose from water to hexane, the same material from biotin-deficient cells will not.