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Fatty Acid Composition in the Lipids of some Marine Chiorococcales and Eustigmatales

1989; De Gruyter; Volume: 44; Issue: 9-10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1515/znc-1989-9-1007

1865-7125

Karola Menzel, Aloysius Wild,

Diatoms and Algae Research

Abstract The fatty acid composition in the lipids of six coccoid microalgae species (≈ 2 μm in diameter) was investigated. In addition to analyses of ultrastructure and pigment content, lipid composition is shown to be a chemotaxonomic tool in the classification of algae. The four species of Chiorococcales (Chlorophyceae) - the marine species as well as the fresh water species, both kept in artificial seawater - contain a fatty acid composition resembling that of Chlorella spp. and of green leaves of higher plants. The fatty acid pattern is characterized as lacking in C20 acids but containing large amounts of C 16 and C 18 polyunsaturated fatty acids, hexadecatrienic acid (16 :3) and a-linolenic acid (18:3ω3) in particular. In contrast the two species of Eustigmatales (Eustigmatophyceae) investigated here show a deficiency of the C 16 and C 18 polyunsaturated fatty acids but contain large amounts of eicosapentaenic acid (20:5).