The effect of growth environment on the chloroform-methanol and alkali-extractable cell wall and cytoplasm lipid levels of Mucor rouxii

Abstract

The distribution of chloroform-methanol and alkali-extractable lipids in the cell walls of aerobically grown filamentous cells from Mucor rouxii has been determined. The results have been compared with the corresponding lipid composition of yeast-like cells from M. rouxii, which can be produced in two ways: by growth under anaerobic conditions and by aerobic growth in the presence of 0.22% phenethyl alcohol (PEA). It was observed that in most cases the crude cytoplasmic fraction contained higher levels of several lipids (i.e., squalene, sterols, triterpenes, and fatty acids) than did the corresponding cell walls. The cell walls did, however, contain both "free" (chloroform-methanol extractable) and "bound" (alkali extractable) lipids although the relative amounts were markedly dependent on the cell growth environment. The aerobically grown filamentous cell walls contained higher levels of squalene, sterols, triterpenes, and fatty acids than did aerobically grown yeast-like PEA-induced cell walls and there was also considerable variation in the "free"/"bound" ratios of the various lipid components. The lipid levels in both the cell walls and cytoplasm of the anaerobically grown cells were considerably lower than those of the cells grown under aerobic conditions. In addition, the differences in the growth environment were also reflected in the compositions of the individual lipid fractions from both the cell wall and the cytoplasm fraction.