Specific extraction of bacterial cardiolipin from sporulating Bacillus subtilis.
A method for rapid purification of bacterial cardiolipin is presented. The cardiolipin level was first increased by suspending Bacillus subtilis cells in a buffer containing an uncoupling agent. At least 90% of the phosphatidylglycerol molecules were rapidly converted into cardiolipin. In sporulating strains, the accumulated cardiolipin appeared to be unextractable by conventional phospholipid extraction procedures. Sporulating bacteria were therefore treated first by a classical technique in order to eliminate lipids other than cardiolipin; a second extraction in a highly acidic medium then allowed us to quantitatively extract the remaining cardiolipin. Besides simplicity and rapidity, this method has the advantage of yielding cardiolipin in a nearly pure form from a relatively low number of bacteria.
D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000032:analysis*; D002308:Cardiolipins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013171:Spores, Bacterial
D002308:Cardiolipins; D010743:Phospholipids