Effects of Growth Temperature and pVM82 Plasmid on Fatty Acids of Lipid A from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

I. N. Krasikova^1*, S. I. Bakholdina¹, S. V. Khotimchenko², and T. F. Solov’eva¹

¹Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Far East Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. 100-letiya Vladivostoka 159, Vladivostok, 690022 Russia; fax: (4232) 31-4050; E-mail: innakras@piboc.marine.su

²Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Palchevskogo 17, Vladivostok, 690041 Russia; fax: (4232) 31-0900; E-mail: lipid@biom.marine.su

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received March 27, 1998; Revision received September 10, 1998

---

Effects of cultivation temperature (8 or 37°C) and plasmid profile on the lipid A fatty acids of three isogenic Yersinia pseudotuberculosis strains (plasmidless (82^-) and strains containing pVM82 (82⁺) or p57 (57⁺) plasmids) obtained by alkaline hydrolysis of the whole bacterial cells and differentiated from fatty acids of other membrane lipids were investigated. On the basis of the analysis, it is concluded that lipids A of all studied samples contain 3-hydroxytetradecanoic and dodecanoic acids, a part of which exists as the 3-dodecanoyloxytetradecanoic derivative. The effect of temperature appears in the higher contents of ester- and amide-linked 3-acyloxyalkanoic residues in lipid A from the “cold” variants of the bacteria and is determined by chromosomal genes. The plasmid effect is seen as various responses of the isogenic derivatives to change of growth temperature: in cells of strains 82⁺ and 82^- grown in the cold, the share of lipid A fatty acids in the total population of cellular fatty acids is reduced, while in strains with plasmid p57 it is increased. The temperature variants of the 57⁺ strain differ by the low contents of amide-linked 3-acyloxyalkanoic acids. Finally, lack of plasmid pVM82 in the “warm” variants of the bacteria results in accumulation of glycolipid molecules deprived of dodecanoic acid. Correlation between growth temperature and plasmid profiles, on one hand, and lipid A fatty acid composition and potential pathogenic properties of the Y. pseudotuberculosis, on the other hand, and also possible mechanisms of thermal adaptation of this organism are discussed.

---

KEY WORDS: gram-negative bacteria,Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, plasmid, lipid A, fatty acids, pathogenicity

---