%0 Journal Article %A Alshamaony, L. %A Goodfellow, M. %A Minnikin, D. E. %A Mordarska, Halina %T Free Mycolic Acids as Criteria in the Classification of Gordona and the ‘rhodochrous’ Complex %D 1976 %J Microbiology, %V 92 %N 1 %P 183-187 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-92-1-183 %I Microbiology Society, %X Summary: The methyl esters of free mycolic acids from representative strains of Gordona bronchialis, G. rubra, G. terrae and Nocardia kirovani each gave, on mass spectro-scopy, homologous series of anhydromycolic esters containing from one to four double bonds with the main components of the parent mycolic acids centred on 56, 58, 62 or 64 carbon atoms (total range from C52 to C66). The mycolic acids from the Gordona strains, with chain lengths centred around C60, form a group intermediate in size between nocardomycolic acids (centred around C50) and mycolic acids sensu stricto (centred around C70 to C90); these are different from those of the ‘rhodochrous’ complex which have anhydromycolates ranging from C34 to C50. Gordonae are thus more closely related in their mycolic acid composition to Nocardia than to Mycobacterium but can be distinguished from each of these genera. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-92-1-183