Occurrence of an α-galacturonosyl-ceramide in the dioxin-degrading bacterium Sphingomonas wittichii

Abstract The chemical structure of two glycosphingolipids (GSLs) found in the dioxin-degrading bacterium Sphingomonas wittichii strain RW1 was investigated by means of mass spectrometry and 1 H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. One of the GSLs was α- D -glucuronosyl-ceramide, commonly present in Sphingomonas spp., and the other was proved to be α- D -galacturonosyl-ceramide, whose sugar configuration has not been reported before. In both GSLs the ceramide portion was composed of myristic acid or 2-hydroxy-myristic acid as the fatty acid, and 2-amino-1,3-octadecanediol or 2-amino- cis -13,14-methylene-1,3-eicosanediol as the dihydrosphingosine.