Characterisation of a lipomannan lipoglycan from the mycolic acid containing actinomycete Dietzia maris

Lipoglycans such as the mycobacterial lipoarabinomannans (LAM) are important cell envelope components of actinomycetes. To further our understanding of the diversity of these enigmatic macromolecules the lipoglycan composition of Dietzia maris has been investigated. Phenol-water extraction and hydrophobic interaction chromatography were used to purify a lipoglycan which was unusually small and predominantly lipomannan in nature. The presence of minor levels of arabinose along with components consistent with the presence of a phosphatidylinositol anchor suggest that this lipoglycan is a novel representative of the lipomannan/LAM structural archetype. This was further supported by the observed cross-reaction of the D. maris lipoglycan with an antiserum raised against LAM from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These findings reveal a previously unsuspected diversity in the lipoglycan composition of the mycolic acid containing actinomycetes and are further discussed in relation to the apparent absence of phosphatidylinositolmannoside glycolipids in D. maris.