Effect of growth rate on lipid and lipoteichoic acid composition in Streptococcus faecium

The lipid composition of Streptococcus faecium (S. faecalis ATCC 9790) was analyzed at various growth rates. Diphosphatidylglycerol and the non-ionic lipid fraction containing diacylglycerols and neutral glycolipids appeared to accumulate relative to cellular mass as the culture mass doubling time increased from 30 to 80 min. Within the same range of doubling times the non-ionic lipid fraction appeared to become substantially enriched with diacylglycerols. All lipid species and cellular lipoteichoic acid accumulated relative to the cellular mass at doubling times exceeding 80 min, although diacylglycerol accumulation exceeded that of all other compounds studied.