RESUMO
The cellular fatty acid profiles of eight strains of Bacillus, Staphylococcus, and Enterobacteriacae (Escherichia coli and Salmonella) were analyzed by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A novel template method was developed to standardize the raw two-dimensional gas chromatography retention data through the use of a chemical indexing mixture. Analyte retention coordinates were normalized in the primary dimension with respect to a series of n-alkanes (Kovats index) and in the secondary dimension with respect to a series of aromatic hydrocarbons (Lee index). Fatty acid profiles extracted from the templates were compared by multidimensional scaling and principal component analysis. Differences in the profiles of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were observed, and a series of heterogeneous mixtures comprising different fractions (containing one Gram-positive and one Gram-negative bacteria strain) were also distinguished from their homogeneous constituents.
