[Intrinsic waxes of saprophytic mycobacteria]

The ability of soil mycobacteria for the synthesis of true waxes may be revealed on media with hydrocarbons. Most strains produced only traces of wax, and some strains (2 out of 62) in considerable amounts (over 1% of dry biomass). The chemical composition of the wax depends on the structrue of oxidized substrate: a mixture of two to three homologues with the molecular weights of 452, 480 and 508, respectively, is formed on a medium with hexadecane, and a mixture of seven homologues with the homologous difference of 14 in the case of glucose.