Mycolic acid patterns of representative strains of Mycobacterium fortuitum, 'Myobacterium peregrinum' and Mycobacterium smegmatis.

Representative strains of Mycobacterium fortuitum, 'Mycobacterium peregrinum' and Mycobacterium smegmatis were degraded by acid methanolysis and patterns of long-chain compounds were determined by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. The same general pattern of mycolic acid methyl esters was found in all 39 strains examined, the major components being so-called alpha-mycolates and characteristic pairs of polar mycolates. Analysis of alkaline methanolysates of selected strains confirmed that these polar mycolates were derived from epoxymycolic acids, as found previously.