Sphingomyelins in four ascidians, Ciona intestinalis, Halocynthia roretzi, Halocynthia aurantium, and Styela clava.
Sphingomyelin is rarely found in lower animals, while sphingophospholipid is a characteristic of higher animals. In this study, sphingomyelin was first isolated and characterized from ascidian Ciona intestinalis. Ascidian sphingomyelin was prepared using ion exchange (QAE-Sphadex-A25) and silicic acid (Florisil and Iatrobeads) column chromatographies. The chemical structure was characterized by fatty acid analysis, sphingoid analysis, hydrogen fluoride degradation, acid hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis, infrared analysis, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The ceramide moieties of C. intestinalis sphingomyelin consisted primarily of C16:0, C18:0, and C18:1 fatty acids and d18:2 sphingadiene. Furthermore, sphingomyelins were isolated and characterized from 3 other ascidians, Halocynthia roretzi, Halocynthia aurantium, and Styela clava using the same methods. Comparative analysis of the sphingomyelin structures in 4 ascidian species-C. intestinalis (Enterogona) and H. roretzi, H. aurantium, and S. clava (Pleurogona)-revealed that the major fatty acid composition of the ceramides was similar, and that they differed in minor components.
Ito
Masahiro
M
Department of Bioinformatics, Institute of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga 525-8577, Japan. maito@sk.ritsumei.ac.jp
Yokoi
Kazuhito
K
Inoue
Takashi
T
Asano
Shogo
S
Hatano
Rei
R
Shinohara
Ryota
R
Itonori
Saki
S
Sugita
Mutsumi
M
D000818:Animals; D002518:Ceramides / Q000032:analysis; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D002938:Ciona intestinalis / Q000737:chemistry*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D010767:Phosphorylcholine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013109:Sphingomyelins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D010738:Type C Phospholipases / Q000378:metabolism; D014561:Urochordata / Q000737:chemistry*
D002518:Ceramides; D013109:Sphingomyelins; C005356:sphingosine phosphorylcholine; D010767:Phosphorylcholine; D010738:Type C Phospholipases; D013110:Sphingosine