Glucosyl diglyceride lipid structures in Deinococcus radiodurans

The structures of two lipids from the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans are reported here: 1,2-diacyl-3-α-glucopyranosyl- glycerol and 3-O-[6'-O-(1'',2''-diacyl-3_-phosphoglycerol)-α- glucopyranosyl]-1,2-diacylglycerol. These lipids are strikingly different from previously characterized polar lipids from this organism, in that they are not unique to the genus Deinococcus and indeed have counterparts in both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Moreover, as examples of glucose- containing lipids, they further illustrate the diversity of carbohydrate- containing lipids in D. radiodurans, from which lipids containing galactose and N-acetylglucosamine have already been structurally characterized.