Preparation of 13C-labeled polyunsaturated fatty acids by an arachidonic acid-producing fungus Mortierella alpina 1S-4.
Three types of 13C-labeled polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were produced in mycelia of an arachidonic acid-producing fungus, Mortierella alpina 1S-4, when grown with 13C-labeled glucose or fatty acid methyl esters. We analyzed them by negative-ion fastatom bombardment mass spectrometry. (i) PUFA in mycelia grown with [1-(13)C]glucose or [2-(13)C]glucose was a mixture of molecules containing zero to six labeled carbons. The content of 13C in the total carbon atoms of PUFA, such as arachidonic (20:4 omega 6), dihomo-gamma-linolenic (20:3 omega 6), gamma-linolenic (18:3 omega 6), and linoleic (18:2 omega 6) acids, in the mycelia grown with [1-(13)C]-glucose or [2-(13)C]glucose was about 11 or 15%, respectively. More than 80% of these PUFA had more than one 13C atom. (ii) When the fungus was grown with [U-13C]glucose, the content of PUFA molecules, all carbons of which were 13C-labeled, was about 20%. The percentage of 13C in PUFA from [U-13C]glucose was 78-83%, over 98% of which had more than one 13C atom. The 13C atoms in the labeled fatty acids formed from 13C-labeled glucose were thought to be distributed at random by a two carbon-unit. (iii) The 13C atom of PUFA in mycelia grown with 1-(13)C-labeled fatty acid methyl esters was highly localized. More than half of the 20:4 omega 6 molecules had only one 13C atom at C-3, C-5, or C-7 when the fungus was grown with methyl [1-13c]stearate, methyl [1-(13)C]palmitate, or methyl [1-(13)C]-myristate, respectively.
D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D007553:Isotope Labeling / Q000379:methods; D009090:Mucorales / Q000378:metabolism*; D016339:Spectrometry, Mass, Fast Atom Bombardment / Q000379:methods
D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D016718:Arachidonic Acid; D005947:Glucose