Analyse des acides gras des mycobactéries par Chromatographie gaz-liquide. Étude de M. avium et de 20 autres espèces

The methyl esters of the fatty acids of 45 strains of Mycobacterium avium and 40 strains of 20 other species were studied by gas-liquid chromatography. A mean theoretical profile (MTP) was etablished from 32 strains of Mycobacterium avium. All the strains of Mycobacterium avium investigated displayed a profile identical to that of the MTP; no difference was observed between Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium scrofulaceum, nor between the different serotypes of Mycobacterium avium. The 12 fatty acids studied in Mycobacterium avium were also found in the other species of Mycobacteria and the analysis of their relative peak heights (excluding that of palmitic acid) enabled their classification into 3 groups. Some of these groups exhibited particular differences, e.g. the presence of differing types of branched chain fatty acid in Mycobacterium kansasii and Mycobacterium gordonae. The existence of some other peaks supplementary to those of the 12 typical fatty acids were also noted. These were defined according to their retention times relative to C16:O with respect to a large number of species, of which Mycobacterium tuberculosis was one. The usefulness of this technique is, however, restricted due to the costs of chromatography involved.