Intracytoplasmic membrane, phospholipid, and sterol content of Methylobacterium organophilum cells grown under different conditions.

Intracytoplasmic membranes were present in Methylobacterium organophilum when cells were grown with methane, but not methanol or glucose, as the sole carbon and energy source. Cells grown with methane as the carbon and energy source and low levels of dissolved oxygen had the greatest amount of intracytoplasmic membrane. Cells grown with increased levels of dissolved oxygen had less intracytoplasmic membrane. The amount of total lipid correlated with the amount of membrane material observed in thin sections. The individual phospholipids varied in amount, but the same four were present in M. organophilum grown with different substrates and oxygen levels. Phosphatidyl choline was present as a major component of the phospholipids. Sterols were present, and they differed from those in the type I methylotroph Methylococcus capsulatus. The relative amounts of different sterols and squalene changed with the substrate provided for growth. The greatest amounts of sterols were found in methane-grown cells grown at low levels of dissolved oxygen. None of the unusual or usual membrane components assayed was uniquely present in the intracytoplasmic membranes.