The unique feature of the genus Sphingobacterium is the presence of sphingophospholipids and ceramides, besides diacylglycerophospholipids. As major cellular lipid components, five kinds of sphingophospholipids were purified from Sphingobacterium spiritivorum ATCC 33861T, the type species of genus Sphingobacterium. They were identified as ceramide phosphorylethanolamines (CerPE-1 and CerPE-2), ceramide phosphoryl-myo-inositols (CerPI-1 and CerPI-2), and ceramide phosphorylmannose (CerPM-1). The ceramide of CerPE-1, CerPI-1, and CerPM-1 was composed of 15-methylhexadecasphinganine (isoheptadeca sphinganine, iso-C17:0) and 13-methyltetradecanoic acid (isopentadecanoic acid, iso-C15:0), whereas that of CerPE-2 and CerPI-2 was composed of isoheptadeca sphinganine and 2-hydroxy-13-methyltetradecanoic acid (2-hydroxy isopentadecanoic acid, 2-OH iso-C15:0). These sphingophospholipids were also found in cellular lipids of Sphingobacterium multivorum ATCC 33613T, Sphingobacterium mizutaii ATCC 33299T, Sphingobacterium faecium IFO 15299T, Sphingobacterium thalpophilum ATCC 43320T, and Sphingobacterium antarcticum ATCC 51969T. To our knowledge, the existence of CerPM-1 is a novel sphingophospholipid through eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]