Preparation of 13C-Labeled Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids by an Arachidonic Acid-Producing Fungus Mortierella alpina 1S-4

Abstract

Three types of 13C-labeled polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were produced in mycelia of an arachidonic acid-producing fungus, Mortierella alpina 1S-4, when grown with 13C-labeled glucose or fatty acid methyl esters. We analyzed them by negative-ion fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry. (i) PUFA in mycelia grown with [1- 13C]glucose or [2- 13C]glucose was a mixture of molecules containing zero to six labeled carbons. The content of 13C in the total carbon atoms of PUFA, such as arachidonic (20:4ω6), dihomo-γ-linolenic (20:3ω6), γ-linolenic (18:3ω6), and linoleic (18:2ω6) acids, in the mycelia grown with [1- 13C]glucose or [2- 13C]glucose was about 11 or 15%, respectively. More than 80% of these PUFA had more than one 13C atom. (ii) When the fungus was grown with [U- 13C]glucose, the content of PUFA molecules, all carbons of which were 13C-labeled, was about 20%. The percentage of 13C in PUFA from [U- 13C]glucose was 78-83%, over 98% of which had more than one 13C atom. The 13C atoms in the labeled fatty acids formed from 13C-labeled glucose were thought to be distributed at random by a two carbon-unit. (iii) The 13C atom of PUFA in mycelia grown with 1- 13C-labeled fatty acid methyl esters was highly localized. More than half of the 20:4ω6 molecules had only one 13C atom at C-3, C-5, or C-7 when the fungus was grown with methyl [1- 13C]stearate, methyl [1- 13C]palmitate, or methyl [1- 13C]myristate, respectively.