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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2002, p. 1344-1350, Vol. 68, No. 3
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.3.1344-1350.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Production of New Unsaturated Lipids during Wood Decay by Ligninolytic Basidiomycetes

Ana Gutiérrez,1 José C. del Río,1 María J. Martínez-Íñigo,2,{dagger} María J. Martínez,2 and Ángel T. Martínez2*

Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, E-41080, Seville,1 Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, E-28006 Madrid, Spain2

Received 8 August 2001/ Accepted 18 December 2001

Lipids were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for a 7-week in vitro decay of eucalypt wood by four ligninolytic basidiomycetes. The sound wood contained up to 75 mg of lipophilic compounds per 100 g of wood. Hydrolysis of sterol esters, which represented 38% of total wood lipids, occurred during the fungal decay. The initial increase of linoleic and other free unsaturated fatty acids paralleled the decrease of sterol esters. Moreover, new lipid compounds were found at advanced stages of wood decay that were identified from their mass spectra as unsaturated dicarboxylic acids consisting of a long aliphatic chain attached to the C-3 position of itaconic acid. These dicarboxylic acids were especially abundant in the wood treated with Ceriporiopsis subvermispora (up to 24 mg per 100 g of wood) but also were produced by Phlebia radiata, Pleurotus pulmonarius, and Bjerkandera adusta. We hypothesize that three main alkylitaconic acids (tetradecylitaconic, cis-7-hexadecenylitaconic, and hexadecylitaconic acids) are synthesized by fungi in condensation reactions involving palmitic, oleic, and stearic acids. We suggest that both wood unsaturated fatty acids (present in free form or released from esters during natural decay) and unsaturated metabolites synthesized by fungi could serve as a source for peroxidizable lipids in lignin degradation by white rot basidiomycetes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, Velázquez 144, E-28006 Madrid, Spain. Phone: 34 915611800. Fax: 34 915627518. E-mail: ATMartinez{at}cib.csic.es.

{dagger} Present address: Instituto Madrileno de Investigaciones Agrarias y Alimentarias, Alcalá de Henares, E-28800 Madrid, Spain.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2002, p. 1344-1350, Vol. 68, No. 3
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.3.1344-1350.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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