Structural studies on the myo-inositol phospholipids of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (var. bovis, strain BCG).

During the last few years, the myo-inositol-containing phospholipids have elicited considerable interest from biochemists because of their possible dynamic functions in cell membranes. Parallel with this interest in function has been a concerted attack on the problem of elucidating the detailed structures of these complex substances. In general, the more definitive results have come from the latter investigations. Myo-inositol is present in nature most usually in conjugated form in phospholipids, substances which have the descriptive name of inositides or phosphoinositides (1). Many tissues of plant and animal origin contain phosphatidyl-myo-inositol (I), structurally the simplest member of the group, and a compound