Synthesis of cyclopropane fatty acids in isolated bacterial membranes

Isolated E. coli membrane vesicles can synthesize cyclopropane fatty acids from S-adenosylmethionine using endogenous membrane phospholipid as the lipidsubstrate. The major methylated products are methylenehexadecanoic acid and methyleneoctadecenoic acid esterified to phosphatidylethanolamine. The membrane system is slightly stimulated by sodium dodecyl sulfate at low concentrations but is inhibited by neutral surfactants. The reaction is inhibited by phospholipase C and phospholipase A. The Arrhenius plot for the enzyme reaction is discontinuous over the temperature range 0–35 °C.