Very-long-chain (C 28) highly unsaturated fatty acids in marine dinoflagellates

• Published in: Phytochemistry (Oxford) 1999-02, Vol.50 (4), p.541-548
• Main Authors: Mansour, Maged P, Volkman, John K, Holdsworth, Daniel G, Jackson, Anne E, Blackburn, Susan I
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; chain-elongation; chemical composition; Chemical constitution; chemical ionization GC-MS; chemical structure; desaturation; dimethyl oxazoline derivatives; Dinophyceae; Dinophyta; fatty acids; Fragilidium; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gymnodinium; Gymnodinium sanguineum; hydrogenation; long chain fatty acids; Marine dinoflagellates; octacosaheptaenoic acid; octacosaoctaenoic acid; Plant physiology and development; Prorocentrum; Prorocentrum mexicanum; Prorocentrum micans; Scrippsiella; Sea water ecosystems; species differences; Symbiodinium microadriaticum; Synecology; unsaturated fatty acids; very-long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids
• ISSN: 0031-9422; 1873-3700
• DOI: 10.1016/S0031-9422(98)00564-0

Very-long-chain (C 28) highly unsaturated fatty acids (VLC-HUFA), octacosaheptaenoic acid (28:7( n-6)(4,7,10,13,16,19,22)) and octacosaoctaenoic acid (28:8( n-3)(4,7,10,13,16,19,22,25)) were identified in seven marine dinoflagellate species: Prorocentrum mexicanum, P. micans, Scrippsiella sp., Symbiodinium microadriaticum, Gymnodinium sp., G. sanguineum and Fragilidium sp. The proportion of these fatty acids accounted for less than 2.3% of the total fatty acids in these species. The main VLC-HUFA in S. microadriaticum was 28:7( n-6); in the other species it was 28:8( n-3), with Scrippsiella sp., Gymnodinium sp. and Fragilidium sp. containing only 28:8( n-3) and Gymnodinium sanguineum containing a small proportion of 28:7( n-6) in addition to 28:8( n-3). These findings show that some marine dinoflagellates have the ability to produce VLC-HUFA, but precursors of these VLC-HUFA with chain lengths between 22 and 28 carbon atoms were below the detection level. Both 28:7( n-6) and 28:7( n-3), as well as other VLC-HUFAs, have been detected previously in Baltic herring; our results suggest that they may have originated from microalgae.