title: Fatty acid, polar lipid and wall amino acid composition of Gardnerella vaginalis.
abstract: Representative strains of Gardnerella vaginalis were degraded using both an alkaline and an acid methanolysis and the fatty acid methyl esters released examined by thin-layer and gas chromatography. The profiles obtained were both qualitatively and quantitatively similar and were comprised of straight chain saturated and unsaturated non-hydroxylated fatty acids with hexadecanoic acid (16:0) and octadecenoic acid (18:1) the major components. All of the strains contained very characteristic polar lipid patterns consisting of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, five partially identified glycolipids and an uncharacterised phospholipid. Analyses of wall amino acid preparations using gas chromatography showed that Gardnerella vaginalis strains contain major amounts of alanine, glycine, glutamic acid and lysine. The chemical data support the integrity of the genus Gardnerella.
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000032:analysis; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D006194:Gardnerella vaginalis / Q000032:analysis*; D006190:Haemophilus / Q000032:analysis*; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008055:Lipids