Characterization of Micrococcus luteus Lipidome Containing Novel Lipid Families by Multiple Stage Linear Ion-Trap with High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Micrococcus luteus (M. luteus) is a ubiquitous, long-existing Gram-positive bacterium with a distinctive yellow or golden color. It is a model organism for laboratory studies due to its small genome and ease of cultivation. However, only limited knowledge about its constituent lipid structure is known, and its entire lipid profile remains unclear. Here, we applied linear ion trap (LIT) multiple-stage mass spectrometry (MSⁿ) with high resolution for structural characterization of the native lipid extract, along with GC/MS analysis of the acid hydrolysate to reveal the structural details of the entire lipidome, which includes the major phosphatidylglycerol (PG), cardiolipin (CL), phosphatidylinositol (PI), dimannosyl diacylglycerol (DMDG), and minor diacylglycerol (DAG) lipid families. Importantly, we also found two extra lipid families, the new phosphatidyl 1,3-propanediol and the known polyprenyl 1-phosphosate that was not previously reported for M. luteus. We also revealed the unique lipidome simplified by the dominance of branched 15:0-fatty acid substituents (>90% branched 15:0-FA with anteiso-15:0 to iso-15:0 abundance ratio of 4/1), which is in line with the small genome of M. luteus. In addition, the applied LIT MSⁿ mass spectrometry revealed a fragmentation pathway that undergoes internal loss of a glycerol residue specific to DMDG, leading to its structural characterization.