This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lambert, M A Articles by Moss, C W Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lambert, M A Articles by Moss, C W

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J Clin Microbiol. 1989 March; 27(3): 465-473

Cellular fatty acid compositions and isoprenoid quinone contents of 23 Legionella species.

Division of Bacterial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.

ABSTRACT

The cellular fatty acid compositions and ubiquinone contents of 182 Legionella strains representing 23 species were determined by capillary gas-liquid chromatography and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. Except for the type strain of Legionella erythra (ATCC 35303T), all Legionella species contained large (40 to 90%) amounts of branched-chain fatty acids and only trace to small (less than 0.5 to 5%) amounts of ester-linked hydroxy acids. The 23 species were placed in three major fatty acid groups on the basis of differences in the relative amounts of 14-methylpentadecanoic (Ci16:0), hexadecanoic (C16:1), and 12-methyltetradecanoic (Ca15:0) acids. All Legionella species contained ubiquinones with 9 to 14 isoprene units in the side chains and were divided into five different ubiquinone groups. The species were further differentiated into 16 groups on the basis of qualitative and quantitative differences in their fatty acid compositions and ubiquinone contents. Both of these chemical characteristics can be used to distinguish Legionella species from other gram-negative bacteria and rapidly and accurately identify suspected isolates before serologic and other tests are done.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Ko, K. S., Lee, H. K., Park, M.-Y., Lee, K.-H., Yun, Y.-J., Woo, S.-Y., Miyamoto, H., Kook, Y.-H. (2002). Application of RNA Polymerase {beta}-Subunit Gene (rpoB) Sequences for the Molecular Differentiation of Legionella Species. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 2653-2658 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Diogo, A., Veríssimo, A., Nobre, M. F., da Costa, M. S. (1999). Usefulness of Fatty Acid Composition for Differentiation of Legionella Species. J. Clin. Microbiol. 37: 2248-2254 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lo Presti, F., Riffard, S., Vandenesch, F., Etienne, J. (1998). Identification of Legionella Species by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Profiles. J. Clin. Microbiol. 36: 3193-3197 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ratcliff, R. M., Lanser, J. A., Manning, P. A., Heuzenroeder, M. W. (1998). Sequence-Based Classification Scheme for the Genus Legionella Targeting the mip Gene. J. Clin. Microbiol. 36: 1560-1567 [Abstract] [Full Text]