A STUDY OF THE LIPIDS OF CERTAIN ENTERIC BACILLI'

During the past decade bacteriologists have become increas-ingly interested in the study of the chemical composition of bacterial cells. Numerous investigators have demonstrated a correlation between the cell components and certain biological activities. Most of the investigations have been concerned with carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, etc.; the lipid fractions have been only slightly studied. Thus, there is a need for an intensive study of the bacterial lipids. The present paper is the first of a series of such studies. LITERATURE In 1893 Cramer demonstrated that the lipid content of certain common organisms varied with the carbohydrate content of the nutrient medium. Using a Friedlinder's bacillus, he found that the lipid content of the organism was 10.26 per cent on nutrient agar, but on the same medium plus 5 per cent glucose, the lipid content rose to 22.68 per cent. Lyons (1897) verified this work by showing that the lipid content of an organism isolated from water, when grown on a one-per-cent glucose medium, had a lipid content of 11 per cent, but when the amount of glucose was increased to 10 per cent, the lipid content rose to 23 per cent. Nishimura (1893) also studied an organism isolated from water I Based on portions of a thesis presented by Clara H. Williams, June 1938, t