Preparation of a fluorescent (anthracene labeled) cardiolipin on a large scale using the metabolic machinery of the bacterium Micrococcus luteus

Micrococcus luteus bacterium has been used as a tool for the preparation of a fluorescent (anthracene labeled) cardiolipin by a method involving two steps. First, 9-(2-anthryl)nonanoic acid is incorporated into the lipids of the bacterium by usual metabolic pathways; then phosphatidylglycerol, a major lipid in this bacterium, is converted into cardiolipin by endogeneous cardiolipin synthetase. It is shown that cardiolipin synthetase transforms anthracene–phosphatidylglycerol into anthracene–cardiolipin at a high rate. The method can be extended to the synthesis of cardiolipin molecules bearing other hydrophobic marker groups.Key words: cardiolipin, fluorescence, biosynthesis, Micrococcus luteus.