title: Phytosterol biosynthesis pathway in Mortierella alpina.
abstract: The Zygomycetes fungus Mortierella alpina was cultured to growth arrest to assess the phytosterol biosynthesis pathway in a less-advanced fungus. The mycelium was found to produce 13 sterols, but no ergosterol. The sterol fractions were purified to homogeneity by HPLC and their identifies determined by a combination of GC-MS and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The principal sterol of the mycelium was cholesta-5, 24-dienol (desmosterol) (83%), with lesser amounts of 24beta-methyl-cholesta-5,25(27)-dienol (codisterol) (2%), 24-methyldesmosterol (6%), 24(28)-methylene cholesterol (3%) and lanosterol (3%) and several other minor compounds (3%). The total sterol accounted for approximately 0.07% of the mycelial dry wt. Mycelium fed methionine-methyl-2H3 for 6 days, generated 3 2H-24-methyl(ene) sterols, [C28-2H2]24(28)-methylenecholesterol, [C28-2H3]24-methylcholesta-5,24-dienol and [C28-2H3]24beta-methyl-cholesta-5,25(27)-dienol. The formation of the 24-methyl sterols seems to be catalyzed by the direct methylation of a common Delta24-acceptor sterol thereby bypassing the intermediacy of an isomerization step for rearrangement of the Delta24(28)-bond to Delta25(25)-position as operates in Ascomycetes fungi and all plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-1061, USA. wdavid.nes@ttu.edu
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: David Nes
authors.forename: Shawn D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Nichols
mesh_terms: D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D020094:Mortierella / Q000378:metabolism*; D010840:Phytosterols / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D010840:Phytosterols