Analysis of phospholipids in bifidobacteria

Methods of preparative chromatography on silica gel columns were used for obtaining preparations of polar lipids of bifidobacteria. Studies of the preparations by one-dimensional and two-dimensional TLC demonstrated that diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidylolycerol (PG), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and phosphatidylcholine (PC) were the predominant phospholipids; minor phospholipids (phosphorus-containing, components present in considerably lower amounts) included phosphatidylinositol (PI) and lyso-phosphatidylcholine (lyso-PC). Parameters of qualitative composition of phospholipids and glycolipids may serve as a set of chemotaxonomic markers in modern procedures for identifying Bifidobacterium species.