[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.

[Lipids of initial and mutant cultures of Penicillium chrysogenum, producers of penicillin].

Comparative investigation of lipogenesis in 2 initial and 4 mutant strains of Penicillium chrysogenum showed that there were no noticeable differences in the composition of the lipid fatty acids in these strains. Certain shifts in the ratio of definite lipid fatty acids in the mutant strain deficient by synthesis of lysine and isoleucine (increased contents of oleic acid) were revealed. A marked influence of the physiological conditions on lipogenesis in the mutant with multiple deficiency by amino acids, vitamins and nucleotides was observed.

[Effect of the exogenous lipids of complex media on the fatty acid composition of mycelial microorganisms].

The effect of exogenous lipid sources on the composition of fatty acids was studied in actinomycetes of the Streptomyces genus and in fungi belonging to the genera Blakeslea, Cunninghamella and Penicillium. The following sources of exogenous lipids were used: soybean and maize flour, sunflower by-products, chicken droppings, maize extract, yeast extract, peptone, sperm whale fat, sunflower and palm oil. The composition of fatty acids in total extracted lipids of the studied mycelial microorganisms was shown to reflect two processes: lipid synthesis de novo and assimilation of exogenous fatty acids.

[Stability of the fatty acid composition of actinomycetes].

The stability of fatty acid composition of total extractable lipids was studied in Streptomyces cultures. The type of fatty acid composition typical of the Streptomyces genus remains stable when the actinomycetes were grown as submerged cultures in various synthetic media: saturated fatty acids with methyl branching in the chain predominated in all of the cases, and fatty acids with an uneven number of carbon atoms in the chain prevailed in most of the cases. Fatty acids with the anteiso structure predominated among the acids with a branched chain, amounting to more than a half of the latter and reaching sometimes 50% of the total fatty acid content.