Orientational order of unsaturated lipids in the membranes of Acholeplasma laidlawii as observed by 2H-NMR.

Oleic acid specifically deuterated at fifteen different positions along the chain, including the double bond, was biosynthetically incorporated into the membrane lipids of the microorganism Acholeplasma laidlawii B. A detailed study of the dynamic conformation of these chains was carried out using deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance. The deuterium spectra fourteen different samples were recorded as a function of temperature over the range 0-41 degrees C. Spectra were obtained down to -52 degrees C for the sample enriched with oleic acid deuterated at the C-12' position. Above 20 degrees C, where the lipids are in the liquid crystal phase, a single quadrupolar powder pattern was observed for each C2H2 segment, except for the C-2' position which gave rise to a three-component spectrum characteristic for this position in both model and biological membranes. Simulation of this spectrum indicates that there are two conformations of the lipid molecule in the region of the C-2' segment of the sn-2 chain. The orientationa fluctuations of the fatty acid chain segments in the A. laidlawii membranes are described by the deuterium order parameters, and a striking similarity is shown to exist between the oleate chain conformation of the A. laidlawii membrane and a phospholipid model membrane. Remarkable similarities are also demonstrated in the A. laidlawii membrane enriched in palmitic and oleic fatty acids when the order parameter profiles are plotted at the same reduced temperature. Below 15 degrees C a second component, due to gel phase lipid, starts to appear in the spectra. This broad gel phase component grows at the expense of the liquid crystal phase component as the temperature is reduced. The spectra indicate that the center of the phase transition is at about -12 degrees C, in good agreement with DSC studies.