title: 252Cf plasma-desorption mass spectrometry of lipid A from Enterobacter agglomerans.
abstract: Endotoxins from gram-negative bacteria are believed to be causative agents of byssinosis, an occupational pulmonary disease associated with exposure to cotton dust in textile mills. Lipid A preparations from Enterobacter agglomerans, a gram-negative bacterium commonly found in cotton and cotton dust, have been analyzed using plasma-desorption mass spectrometry. Results indicate the existence of at least two lipid A types which differ only by the presence of an additional oxygen atom whose position has been localized to the acyloxyacyl ester-linked side-chain of the distal portion of the molecule. The lower molecular weight compound of the two structures has the same molecular weight and presumably the same empirical formula as a well-characterized lipid A from Salmonella minnesota. The mass spectra of lipid A compounds obtained from S. minnesota and E. agglomerans show strong similarities. Palmitoyl, hydroxymyristoyl, myristoyl, and lauroyl side-chains which are known to be present in the former are inferred from spectral evidence to be present in the latter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, LA 70148.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: L N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Domelsmith
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Laine
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: DeLucca
mesh_terms: D002142:Californium; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D004754:Enterobacter / Q000737:chemistry*; D008050:Lipid A / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D008050:Lipid A; D002142:Californium