Properties of pigments produced by S.epidermidis

The major pigment isolated from S.epidermidis cells grown at 37℃ was analyzed by various physicochemical methods. The chemical structure was presumed to be glucopyranosyl-1-0-(4,4'-diapo-7',8',11',12'-tetrahydrolycopen-4-oate)-6-0-(2-methyl butanoate). The effect of growth temperature on the production of pigments was studied by HPLC. Cells grown at 25℃ had a different C(30)-carotenoid as the major pigment from cells grown at 37℃. Cells grown at 42℃ had a pigment which was not a carotenoid. By shifting the culture temperature from 37℃ to 25℃ or 42℃, the composition of the pigments did not change, but the amount of pigments increased in the case of a shift to 25℃