Fatty acid composition of thermophilic, mesophilic, and psychrophilic clostridia.

The fatty acid composition of two thermophilic anaerobes was determined, and the results were compared with those from a mesophilic and a psychrophilic anaerobe. Notable differences were that the thermophiles contained a higher content of saturated straight- and branched-chain fatty acids, and, of the latter, iso C(15) was the predominant type. The mesophile and psychrophile were characterized by having a higher percentage of unsaturated fatty acids. An unidentified fatty acid, present in all of the organisms, was purified from the psychrophile. By physical and chemical analysis the structure of the unknown acid was resolved and found to be the unsaturated cyclopropane fatty acid, 12,13-methylene-9-tetradecenoic acid.