A new bacterial sphingophospholipid containing 3-aminopropane-1,2-diol.

1. A new sphingophospholipid has been isolated from the bacterial fraction of sheep rumen contents. 2. This new lipid has been characterized as a ceramide phosphate moiety esterified to 3-aminopropane-1,2-diol through the primary alcohol group. 3. Mass spectrometry has shown the intact lipid to contain a vicinal hydroxyl amino grouping, and oxidation with periodate converts it quantitatively into a new phospholipid which is probably ceramide phosphorylglycolaldehyde. 4. The sphingophospholipid contains a mixture of saturated long-chain bases mainly with branched-chain alkyl groups, which are typical of a microbial origin. 5. A Gram-negative bacterium isolated from rumen contents contains about 30% of the new lipid in its phospholipids when grown in pure culture.