The effect of growth temperature on the compositions of phospholipids and fatty acids of the psychrotrophic bacterium Pseudomonas sp. strain E-3 was studied. The composition of phospholipids (phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin) did not differ significantly in cells grown at 5°, 15°, and 30°C. Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) was the most abundant, amounting to over 70% of total phospholipids. When the growth temperature was lowered, palmitoleic [16:1(Δ9)] and cis-vaccenic [18:1(Δ11)] acids increased at the expense of palmitic (16:0) acid, especially in PE. In vivo experiments using [l-14C]16:0 showed that incorporation of radioactivity into 16:1(Δ9) was oxygen-dependent and cerulenin-insensitive, and incorporation into 18:1(Δ11) was cerulenin-sensitive. These results suggest that 16:0 was aerobically desaturated to 16:1(Δ9) and subsequently elongated to 18:1(Δ11). Desaturation activity of 16:0 in the cells grown at 25°C was enhanced by lowering the assay temperature.
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Wada et al. (1987) studied this question.