Fatty acid composition of gliding bacteria: oral isolates of Capnocytophaga compared with Sporocytophaga.

The extractable and bound lipids and cellular fatty acids of the gram-negative gliding bacteria, Capnocytophaga sputigena, C. gingivalis, and C. ochracea were compared to the non-host-related gliding bacterium Sporocytophaga myxococcoides. The extractable lipids represented between 17 and 28% of the cell dry weight, whereas only 2 to 4% of the lipids were in the bound fraction. The methyl esters of the cellular fatty acids were mainly aC15:0, which accounted for 69 to 73% of the total extractable fatty acids; S. myxococcoides had a similar distribution of branched-chain fatty acids; however, aC17:0 was the predominant fatty acid in this free-living gliding organism.