Detection of bacterial lipids and particularly the lipid A, the lipid anchor of the lipopolysaccharide, can be very challenging and requires a certain level of expertise. Here, this chapter describes a straightforward and simple method for the analysis of bacterial lipid A. In addition, such approach, lipid fingerprint, has the potential to be applied to other bacteria such as mycobacteria.
Keywords: Cell envelope; Gram-negative bacteria; Lipid A; MALDI-TOF.