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SUMMARY: Addition of unsaturated long-chain fatty acids to tryptose broth improved growth of Mycoplasma laidlawii and induced the formation of very long and highly branched filaments by this organism. Most filaments were composed of small coccoid bodies. The saturated long-chain fatty acids, in a similar concentration, did not produce this effect; palmitic and stearic acids inhibited growth. Similar, but less striking results were obtained with M. gallisepticum and Mycoplasma sp. strain 14. The possibility that the morphological variations reflect changes in the lipid composition of the cell membrane is discussed.
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