Chemical composition of lipids in populations and species of Enchytraeus (Annelida, Oligochaeta) and Tisbe (Arthropoda, Crustacea)1

Abstract

The composition of lipids from several Enchytraeus (Annelida, Oligochaeta) and Tisbe (Arthropoda, Crustacea) populations or species, respectively, has been investigated using chromatographic and spectrometric methods. Triglycerides and polar components were found to be the predominant components. In both genera, the fatty acid moiety of the triglycerides consisted mainly of saturated and unsaturated C14-, C16- and C18-compounds; particularly, in Tisbe populations additionally branched constituents were present. Predominantly fatty acids in Tisbe populations were C16-compounds whereas C14-compounds were major constituents in Enchytraeus indicating a differently oriented synthetase activity in these groups. The analysis of the fatty acid profiles and the phospholipid patterns revealed distinct groups within the Enchytraeus populations which can be discriminated by a different balance of s-oxidation and desaturase systems. These findings are discussed in context with the fatty acid metabolism in these organisms considering the results obtained with other methods and evaluating the applicability of lipid analysis in these organisms for chemosystematic investigations.