Mycosides: a New Class of Type-Specific Glycolipids of Mycobacteria

Abstract

STUDIES by the combined techniques of chromatography and infra-red spectroscopy of the lipid content of 85 strains of Mycobacteria including human, bovine and avian species and representatives of the atypical acid-fast group¹, have led to the recognition that some of the compounds are limited in distribution to a single species of organism and may in fact serve to distinguish between the various species of Mycobacteria. The distribution of these substances in the various species of Mycobacteria studied is as follows: phthiocerol dimycocerosate present in the lipids of 28 out of 30 human strains studied; a compound called G _B ^2,3 present in the lipids of 7 out of 7 bovine strains studied (G _B is accompanied by phthiocerol dimycocerosate in virulent bovine strains); a compound called G _A ⁴ present in the lipids of 17/17 photochromogenic¹ strains; a compound called J _av ⁴ present in the lipids of 11/13 avian strains and also in the lipids of 3/6 non-photochromogenic strains. The purpose of this communication is to propose a more rational nomenclature for these substances.