[Role of lipids in the acid resistance of saprophytic mycobacteria].

The resistance of saprophyte mycobacteria to acids increases on a medium containing paraffin. The content of free lipids and mycolic acids in the cells of Mycobacterium convolutum assimilating the hydrocarbon increases cf. that in the cells grown on meat-peptone broth. The structure of mycolic acids was established after studying their methyl esters by mass spectrometry. The cells grown on the medium with hexadecane contain mycolic acids C32--C36, with C34- and C36-compounds prevailing and the aliphatic chain in alpha-position containing 10, 11, 12, and 14 C-atoms. The cells cultivated on meat-peptone broth contain another type of acids of high molecular weight (greater than 700).