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

Abstract

Biotin deficiency and the fatty acids of certain biotin-requiring bacteria. The major fatty-acids of Lactobacillus plantarum were identified as myristic, palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, cis-vaccenic, and lactobacillic. Small amounts of a C14-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 C16-monoenoic-acid fraction of E. coli also contained small amounts of 7,8-hexadecenoate. The C18-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 cisvaccenic decreased sharply. In biotin deficiency, there was a decrease of about 20% in total lipid of L. plantarum.