The thermotropic behaviour of membrane phospholipids was estimated in intact cells of Bacillus subtilis. Membrane fluidity (microviscosity) of intact cells depended markedly on the ambient temperature - 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 degrees 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" in B. subtilis.

Department of Microbiology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague

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