title: Molecular species of cerebrosides in fruiting bodies of Lentinus edodes and their biological activity.
abstract: Cerebroside fraction was obtained from fresh fruiting bodies of Lentinus edodes and separated into ten molecular species by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The species were identified by GLC, GC-MS and NMR. Their component glycosides and sphingoids were uniformly glucose and (4E,8E)-9-methyl-4,8-sphingadienine, respectively. The component fatty acids were 2-hydroxy acids with the carbon chain length of 16, 15, 14, 18, 24, 17, 25, 26, 22 and 23 (from major to minor). The cerebrosides with the C14-18 fatty acids showed strong fruiting-inducing activity in Schizophyllum commune. Those with the C22 and C23 ones had one-eighth and one-sixteenth of the activity, respectively, and those with C24-26 had no detectable activity. 22 and 23 must be the carbon chain lengths of the component fatty acid of the sphingolipids critical for expression of biological activity.
authors.affiliation: Noda Institute for Scientific Research, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kawai
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000032:analysis*; D002554:Cerebrosides / Q000032:analysis*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
chemical_list: D002554:Cerebrosides