[Biodiesel fuel production from lipids of filamentous fungi].

The main stages in the production of biodiesel fuel from lipids of filamentous fungi belonging to the order Mucorales are described. Fungi of the family Cunninghamellaceae have been screened; the lipogenic activity of the examined strains has been assessed; and a producer generating up to 50% of lipids, represented by triacylglycerols, has been found. The substitution effect of a source of carbon and nitrogen with less expensive components (in particular, various industrial wastes) has been studied, as well as their influence on the quantity and major characteristics of the final product.

[Polysaccharides of the fungus Cunninghamella japonica mycelium].

Preliminary data on the polysaccharide composition of mycelium of the submerged grown fungus Cunninghamella japonica (synonymous with C. echinulata) were obtained. Mild acid hydrolysis of the mycelium led to formation of glucose, mannose and galactose, whereas acid treatment under drastic conditions afforded glucosamine as the hydrolysis product of chitin and chitosan, the summary content of both glucosaminoglycans being estimated as about 35%.

[Filamentous fungi's cell-wall extraction at different stages of ontogenesis and exploration of their carbohydrate composition].

Methods of obtaining cell walls (CW) for specimens of mucoraceous molds and ascomycetic affined fungi are developed at the stage of mycelium and resting cells, or spores. CW purity was assessed by electron microscopy, specific staining methods, scourage control, presence of ribose and desoxyribose, and the comparison of chitin content in whole cells and CW of fungi (a new criteria). The authors discuss the significance of the proposed methods of obtaining pure fractions of CW and of the study of their carbohydrate content for the chemotaxonomy of filamentous fungi.

[Polysaccharide composition of mycelium and cell walls of the fungus Penicillium roqueforti].

Preliminary data on the polysaccharide composition of mycelium and cell walls of the submergedly grown fungus Penicillium roqueforti were obtained. Mild acid hydrolysis of mycelium and cell walls led to formation of glucose, mannose and galactose, whereas acid treatment under drastic conditions afforded glucosamine as the hydrolysis product of chitin, which content in the cell walls was estimated as 19%. Sequential treatment of the mycelium with hot water and 1 M NaOH at room temperature gave rise to several polysaccharide fractions, which were characterized by their monosaccharide composition.

[Species composition of food-spoiling mycelial fungi].

We investigated the composition of the microflora that spoils foodstuffs (the surface of hard cheeses and sausages) at agribusiness factories. Mycelial fungi, mostly ascomycetes of the order Eurotiales belonging to the genus Penicillium play the main role in spoiling food. Most representatives of these fungi are mesophiles and possess the capacity for utilizing nutrient substrates in surface and submerged cultures.

[Lipid synthesis by Geomyces pannorum under the impact of stress factors].

Lipogenic activity and fatty acid composition of two strains of Geomyces pannorum were studied in the course of fungal growth. The strains were isolated from an Arctic cryopeg lens (VKM FW-2241) and from Central Russia (VKM F-3808). The adaptive reactions in both strains towards the temperature decreasing to 2 degrees C involved intensification of the fatty acid desaturation.

[Lipids of filamentous fungi as a material for producing biodiesel fuel].

Species of various filamentous fungus taxa were tested for ability to produce lipids suitable as a material for manufacturing biodiesel. The mucoralean fungus Cunninghamella japonica was found to be a promising lipid producer. The inexpensive medium for its growth developed in this study contained ammonium nitrate as a nitrogen source.

[Biologically active lipids in fungi of the Pilobolaceae family].

The synthesis of bioactive lipids in three species of lower mycelial fungi of the genus Pilaira, the family Pilobolaceae, has been studied. The pigmentation of these fungi was found to be determined by the presence of beta-carotene in amounts of 14.8 (P.

[The prevalence of cis-9-hexadecenoic acid is a specific feature of the fatty acid profile of zygomycetes from the order Kickxellales].

The fatty acid profiles of zygomycetes from the family Kickxellaceae of the order Kickxellales were studied with reference to the species Kicksella alabastrina of the key genus Kicksella of the family and the species Linderina pennispora. When synthesized de novo, the lipids of these species show the prevalence of cis-9-hexadecenoic acid. This trait is stable, does not depend on cultivation conditions, and can, therefore, be considered as a specific chemotaxonomic characteristic of fungi from the order Kickxellales.

Lipids of the zygomycete Absidia corymbifera F-965.

The cell lipids of the zygomycete Absidia corymbifera F-965 extracted with isopropanol and CHCl3-MeOH mixtures at the exponential growth phase comprise 20+/-2% of mycelium dry wt. The lipids consist of: triacylglycerols (51% of the total lipids extracted), diacylglycerols (9%), monoacylglycerols (3%), ergosterol (5%), ergosterol peroxide (5alpha,8alpha-epidioxyergosta-6,22-diene-3beta-ol) (3%), fatty-acid esters of ergosterol (less than 0.5%), free fatty acids (4%), glucocerebroside (3%), and glycerophospholipids (22%).

Glycolipids of the filamentous fungus Absidia corymbifera F-295.

The lipids extracted with CHCl(3)/MeOH mixtures from mycelium of the lower filamentous fungus Absidia corymbifera F-295 were found to contain three glycolipids. Based on the IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectra, plasma-desorption ionisation (PDI) mass spectra as well as chemical degradation results, the glycolipids were established to be 1-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-2-N-(2'-D-hydroxyhexadecanoyl)-9-methylsphinga-4(E),8(E)-dienine (glucosyl ceramide) and 2-O-(6'-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl)-beta-D-galactopyranosides of 2-D-hydroxy and erythro-2,3-dihydroxy fatty acids C(9), C(11), and C(13). They accounted for about 3.

[Fatty acids in the species of several zygomycete taxa].

The composition of fatty acids synthesized de novo by thirty strains of zygomycetes from various taxa was studied. The qualitative fatty acid compositions of the fungal lipids were found to be virtually identical, but there were significant differences in the contents of individual acids. Highly active producers of essential C18 fatty acids, with their content exceeding 30-40% of total fatty acids, were discovered among the fungi of the families Mucoraceae, Pilobolaceae, and Radiomycetaceae.

Unusual fatty acid composition of cerebrosides from the filamentous soil fungus Mortierella alpina.

The cerebrosides produced by the soil filamentous fungus Mortierella alpina strain KG-1/95 account for about 13% of the total polar lipids extractable from lyophilised cells with chloroform/methanol mixtures. By means of 1H NMR and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionisation mass spectrometry, and chemical degradation experiment, they have been shown to be 1-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-2-N-(2'-D-hydroxyalkanoyl)-9-methylsphinga-4(E),8(E)-dienines, the fatty acid composition of which is unusual and consists of 2-hydroxytridecanoic (4%), 2-hydroxytetradecanoic (60%), 2-hydroxypentadecanoic (20%), and 2-hydroxyhexadecanoic (16%) acids.

[Effect of vitamin E and its functional analogs with different molecular structures on growth and lipids content of Pythium debaryanum].

The effect of exogenously added vitamin E and its synthetic analogues (the hydrophilic form of vitamin E and chromans C13 and C1) on the growth, lipogenic activity, and the fatty acid composition of the eicosapolyenoic acid-synthesizing oomycete Pythium debaryanum was studied. The effect was found to depend on the molecular structure of particular compounds. For instance, vitamin E and chroman C13 stimulated fungal growth, whereas chroman C1 inhibited it.

Two unusual glycerophospholipids from a filamentous fungus, Absidia corymbifera.

The chloroform-methanol extractable lipids of the soil filamentous fungus Absidia corymbifera VKMF-965 account for about 20% by weight of dry cells and are composed of low-polarity constituents (about 75% of the total lipids), such as triacylglycerols (mainly), diacylglycerols, sterols and free fatty acids, as well as of glycolipids (about 3%) and phospholipids. The last consist largely of components common to the fungal lipids, namely, phosphatidylethanolamine (38% of the total phospholipids), phosphatidyl-myo-inositol (16%), diphosphatidylglycerol (12%), phosphatidylcholine (7%), phosphatidic acid (6%) and phosphatidylglycerol (3%), and two unusual phospholipids, PL1 (6%) and PL2 (9%). Based on the infrared (IR), (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), (13)C-NMR and mass spectra along with the results of degradation experiment, these two phospholipids have been established to be 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho(N-acetylethanolamine), or N-acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine, and 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho(N-ethoxycarbonyl-ethanolamine), respectively.

[Effect of exogenous sterols on the growth and fatty acid composition of the oomycete Pythium debaryanum].

Exogenous ergosterol and cholesterol were found to affect the growth and lipogenesis of the oomycete fungus Pythium debaryanum, which is unable to synthesize de novo steroid compounds. These sterols stimulated the growth of the fungus during its submerged cultivation in glucose-peptone medium. This was accompanied by the shortening of the lag phase, the lengthening of the period of active growth, and by a 3.

[Changes in the fatty acid composition of phospholipids during the growth process of microscopic fungi of the family Entomophthoraceae].

The fatty acid composition of phospholipids and its changes during growth of two cultures of microscopic fungi belonging to the family Entomophthoraceae have specific peculiarities. Fatty acids in the composition of phospholipids contain from 10 to 20 carbon atoms in the chain; unsaturated fatty acids prevail among them, and constitute about 60% in the phospholipids of Ent. coronata 1932 and about 70% in the phospholipids of Ent.

[Age changes in the lipid fatty acid makeup of cultures of the family Entomophthoraceae].

The rate of biosynthesis of lipids and their fatty acid composition were studied in four cultures of microscopic fungi belonging to the family Entomophthoraceae in the course of their growth. The cultures synthesized from 23% to 43% of lipids. The lipids comprised fatty acids containing from 9 to 24 carbon atoms in the chain.

[Electron microscopic study of normal Bacillus anthracoides spores and after exposure to a chloroactive disinfectant].

The fine structure of Bacillus anthracoides spores is similar in general to that of other, taxonomically related species of spore forming bacteria. However, the former is characterized by a well-developed multilayered exosporium and the heterogeneous structure of an envelope. The lethal effect of a chloroactive disinfectant (2/3 of calcium hypochlorite basic salt) is caused by changes in the structural organization of spores, which interferes with the normal permeability barrier and metabolic processes.

[Variant of Bacillus anthracoides].

A comparative study of the Bacillus anthracoides culture and its variant has shown that the latter differs drastically from the parent culture in the shape and consistence of colonies, the size of spores and vegetative cells, the rate of spore germination in MPB, and the resistence to steam treatment and chloroactive disinfectants.

[Use of a mass spectrometric method for studying the oxygen demand of suspensions of resting Bacillus anthracoides spores].

Oxygen assimilation by the spore suspensions of Bacillus anthracoides under sterile conditions was continuously registered by means of a modified mass-spectrometry technique using an original reaction vessel. The sensitivity of the technique is 2.10(-2) mcl O2 per 1 mg of dry biomass per hour.

[Oxygen consumption by suspensions of Bacillus anthracoides spores].

The respiration rate of spore suspensions of Bacillus anthracoides 96 was assayed by mass spectrometry employing a hermetically sealed reaction vessel constructed for this purpose. The rate of respiration was found to depend on the method of preparing suspensions, the duration of their storage at +4 degrees C, the physiological state of spores, and the action of a disinfectant containing chlorine on them.

[Effect of calcium hypochlorite on Bacillus anthracoides spores].

The sublethal dose of calcium hypochlorite (CH) of 0.2--0.3 mg/ml active chlorine did not cause, after 5 min, morphological changes in the spores of Bacillus anthracoides which could be detected by phase contrast microscopy, or a decrease in the content of dipicolinic acid (DPA) in the spores.