Studies of the fatty acid composition and membrane microviscosity in Salmonella typhimurium TA98.

When the mutagen tester bacterial strain Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 was grown at different temperatures, we found that the unsaturated fatty acid composition increased at the lower growth temperatures. Membrane microviscosity, as assessed with spin-probe fatty acids using electron spin resonance, decreased as the unsaturated fatty acid content increased. These findings are of importance in understanding our recent observation that the mutagenic response of these bacteria was increased when they were grown at 27 degrees C vs. 37 degrees C, and indicate that membrane properties may play an important role in the sequence of events leading to mutagenesis.