title: Electron spin resonance study of the isolated lipid components from Blastocladiella emersonii zoospores.
abstract: The physico-chemical properties of lipid components isolated from zoospores of the aquatic phycomycete, Blastocladiella emersonii, were investigated with electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy using the spin label, 5-nitroxystearate. Lipid dispersions were made from zoospore phospholipids and glycolipids, both singly and in combination with each other and with isolated neutral lipid components. Plots of the hyperfine splitting parameter (2T parallel) vs. temperature indicate that it is the zoospore glycolipids rather than the phospholipids which are responsible for the phase transformations previously observed in aqueous dispersions of the total lipids extracted from zoospores and in zoospores in vivo. The discontinuities observed in the glycolipid dispersions seem to represent the onset and completion of a gel-to-liquid-crystalline phase transition. Over the temperature range tested, Ca2+ increased the rigidity of the glycolipid dispersions, the major component of which is probably a diglucosyldiglyceride, but had no effect on the phospholipid dispersions. The increase in 2T parallel was not affected by inclusion of neutral lipids into the glycolipid dispersion but was eliminated at high (5 : 1, w/w) phospholipid-to-glycolipid ratios. The Ca2+ effect was relatively independent of both the absolute rigidity of the dispersion and its phase (gel or liquid-crystalline), suggesting an interaction with the glycolipid head group rather than the hydrocarbon core. The Ca2+-induced increase in 2T was neither prevented nor reversed by the presence of K+. The presence of two spin label populations co-existing in a dynamic equilibrium was found in glycolipid/neutral lipid dispersions. Plots of the percentage ([HA/(HA + HB)] X 100 of the spin label population, as measured by the peak height of the low-field peaks, corresponding to the more immobilized component (HA) vs. temperature indicated two break points. The temperatures at which these break points occurred are similar to those obtained for the glycolipid dispersions, and match the break points (TL and TH) found in ESR experiments using zoospores in vivo. The importance of the glycolipids in the development of this organism is discussed.
mesh_terms: D001754:Blastocladiella / Q000032:analysis*; D002118:Calcium; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000032:analysis*; D004492:Edetic Acid; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D005658:Fungi / Q000032:analysis*; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000032:analysis; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000032:analysis*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis; D011188:Potassium; D013170:Spores / Q000032:analysis; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D006017:Glycolipids; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D010743:Phospholipids; D004492:Edetic Acid; D011188:Potassium; D002118:Calcium