Quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of the pool levels of undecaprenyl phosphate and its derivatives in bacterial membranes

Undecaprenyl phosphate is the essential lipid involved in the transport of hydrophilic motifs across the bacterial membranes during the synthesis of cell wall polymers such as peptidoglycan. A HPLC procedure was developed for the quantification of undecaprenyl phosphate and its two derivatives, undecaprenyl pyrophosphate and undecaprenol. During the exponential growth phase, the pools of undecaprenyl phosphate and undecaprenyl pyrophosphate were ca. 75 and 270 nmol/g of cell dry weight, respectively, in Escherichia coli, and ca. 50 and 150 nmol/g, respectively, in Staphylococcus aureus. Undecaprenol was detected in S. aureus (70 nmol/g), but not in E. coli (<1 nmol/g).