Abstract
The thermotropic behaviour of membrane phospholipids was estimated in intact cells ofBacillus subtilis. Membrane fluidity (microviscosity) of intact cells depended markedly on the ambient temperaturo — increase in cultivation temperature led to an increase in membrane fluidity. Estimated as anisotropy of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene fluorescence, a 30 % difference was observed when cells cultivated at 20 and 40 °C were compared. This lack of rigorous homeostatic control of bulk-phase lipid fluidity prompted the reevaluation of the physiological significance of the “homeoviscous adaptation” inB. subtilis.
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The authors wish to express their gratitude to Dr. J. Plášek and Dr. P. Jarolím from theDepartment of Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, for valuable methodological advice and help in carrying out the experiments described in this work.
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Svobodová, J., Svoboda, P. Membrane fluidity inBacillus subtilis. Physical change and biological adaptation. Folia Microbiol 33, 161–169 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02925900
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02925900