[Chemotaxonomy of gram-positive bacteria metabolizing beta-caryophyllene].

Chemotaxonomic identification of coryneform bacteria metabolizing b-caryophyllene was attempted. The following phospholipids were identified as main components of the bacterial extracts: cardiolipids, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and mannosides of phosphatidylinositol. Saponification of the lipid extracts gave a mixture of hydroxylated and nonhydroxylated fatty acids.

[Isolation, morphological and biochemical characteristics of gram-positive bacteria metabolizing beta-caryophyllene].

Eleven strains of coryneform bacteria were isolated from soil samples by enrichment culture in a mineral medium containing beta-caryophyllene as the sole energy and carbon source. Ten of them could also metabolize longifolene. Numerical taxonomy, based on the use of 147 characteristics, revealed a large diversity.

[Composition of the complex lipids of Flavobacterium meningosepticum].

The free lipids of Flavobacterium meningosepticum were separated by thin layer chromatography, and the main lipid fractions were analysed by FAB (fast atom bombardment) mass spectrometry. The major products were di-iso-C15- and iso-C15-iso-C17-phosphatidylethanolamine, and two ninhydrin + and phosphorus- fractions. The structures of the latter two fractions were established as ornithine lipids by using MIKE (mass ions kinetic energy) mass spectrometry, GC/MS (gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) and conventional methods.

[Use of acetamide by Bacillus gordonae. II. Research on acetamidase and the taxonomic value of spontaneous mutation permitting the acquisition of this enzyme].

The wild strain Q1 had no acetamidase. The mutant Q1Ac synthesized an inducible acetamidase which was catabolite repressible by glucose. The mutation described is a character that has a high taxonomic value.

[Use of acetamide by Bacillus gordonae. I. Isolation and characterization of mutants able to use this compound as a source of carbon and energy].

All known strains of Bacillus gordonae can acquire, by spontaneous mutation, the ability to grow at the expense of acetamide as a source of carbon, nitrogen and energy. The isolation and characters of these mutants are described. Their frequency is high (10(-3)-10(-2) per cell).