Influence of the temperature and the growth phase on the hopanoids and fatty acids content of Frateuria aurantia (DSMZ 6220).

The main lipids isolated from Frateuria aurantia (DSMZ 6220) are iso-branched fatty acids and triterpenoids of the hopane family like bacteriohopanetetrol and derived hopanoids, beside trace amounts of diploptene and rearranged compounds like fern-7-ene. The impact of the growth temperature and the growth phase in which cells were harvested on this lipid fingerprint was investigated. As expected, an increase of saturated compounds with temperature is the essential modification in the fatty acid composition. The fatty acid composition also varies significantly during the growth. Global lipid fingerprints, including at least PLFA and triterpenoids are suggested to be a tool for measuring the stress state of bacterial cells. Increasing amounts of C-31 hydroxylated hopanoids with a temperature increase is novel information which deserves attention and further investigation for a better comprehension of the physiological significance of modifications conditioned obviously by environmental changes.