Unsaturated fatty acids of mycobacteria

The double bond locations have been determined for the mono‐unsaturated fatty acids, C 14 to C 26 of M. smegmatis and M. bovis BCG. The 14∶1 and 16∶1 fatty acids from M. smegmatis are principally Δ 10 , while the 17∶1, 18∶1 and 19∶1 fatty acids from both organisms are Δ 9 . In the case of M. smegmatis , the 20∶1, 22∶1 and 24∶1 fatty acids are principally Δ 11 , Δ 13 and Δ 15 , respectively, while the 22∶1, 24∶1 and 26∶1 fatty acids of BCG are principally Δ 13 , Δ 15 and Δ 17 , respectively.