The temperature dependence of molecular order and the influence of cholesterol in Acholeplasma laidlawii membranes.

2H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of Acholesplasma laidlawii membranes grown on a medium supplemented with perdeuterated palmitic acid shows that at 42 degrees C or above, the membrane lipids are entirely in a fluid state, exhibiting the characteristic 'plateau' in the variation of deuterium quadrupolar splitting with chain position. Between 42 and 34 degrees C there is a well-defined gel-to-fluid phase transition encompassing the growth temperature of 37 degrees C, and at lower temperatures the membranes are in a highly ordered gel state. The 2H-NMR spectra of the gel phase membranes are similar to those of multilamellar dispersions of chain perdeuterated dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (Davis, J.H. (1979) Biophys. J. 27, 339) as are the temperature dependences of the spectra and their moments. The incorporation of large amounts of cholesterol into the membrane removes the gel to fluid phase transition. Between 20 and 42 degrees C, the position dependence of the orientational order of the hydrocarbon chains of the membranes is similar to that of the fluid phase of the membranes without cholesterol, i.e., they exhibit the plateau in the deuterium quadrupolar splittings. However, the cholesterol-containing membranes have a higher average order, with the increases in order being greater for positions near the carbonyl group of the acyl chains. Below 20 degrees C the 2H spectra of the membranes containing cholesterol change dramatically in a fashion suggestive of complex motional and/or phase behaviour.