1(3),2-Diacylglyceryl-3(1)-O-2′-(hydroxymethyl)(N,N,N,-trimethyl)-β-alanine (DGTA): A novel betaine lipid from Ochoromonas danica (Chrysophyceae)

Microbial trimethylamine metabolism in marine environments

Trimethylamine (TMA) is common in marine environments. Although the presence of this compound in the oceans has been known for a long time, unlike the mammalian gastrointestinal tract, where TMA metabolism by microorganisms has been studied intensely, many questions remain unanswered about the microbial metabolism of marine TMA. This minireview summarizes what is currently known about the sources and fate of TMA in marine environments and the different pathways and enzymes involved in TMA metabolism in marine bacteria. This review also raises several questions about microbial TMA metabolism in the marine environments and proposes potential directions for future studies.

Examination of the structures of several glycerolipids from marine macroalgae by NMR and GC-MS

Several classes of glycerolipids were isolated from the total lipids of the algae Saccharina cichorioides, Eualaria fistulosa, Fucus evanescens, Sargassum pallidum, Silvetia babingtonii (Ochrophyta, Phaeophyceae), Tichocarpus crinitus, and Neorhodomela larix (Rhodophyta, Florideophyceae). The structures of these lipids were examined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, including 1D ((1) H and (13) C) and 2D (COSY, HSQC and HMBC) experiments. All of the investigated algae included common galactolipids and sulfonoglycolipids as the major glycolipids. Minor glycolipids isolated from S. cichorioides, T. crinitus, and N. laris were identified as lyso-galactolipids with a polar group consisted of the galactose. Comparison of the (1) H NMR data of minor nonpolar lipids isolated from the extracts of the brown algae S. pallidum and F. evanescens with the (1) H NMR data of other lipids allowed them to be identified as diacylglycerols. The structures of betaine lipids isolated from brown algae were confirmed by NMR for the first time. The fatty acid compositions of the isolated lipids were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Betaine lipids and zwitterionic phospholipids in plants and fungi

Of spermatophytes, ferns, mosses, algae, lichens and fungi, 110 species not analysed so far were examined for diacylglyceryl-N,N,N-trimethylhomoserine (DGTS), diaclyglycerylhydroxymethyl-N,N,N-trimethyl-beta-alanine (DGTA), phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) by TLC by using Dragendorff's and molybdenum-blue reagents for detection. The limit of detection was 0.5 microgram per mg or 0.05 weight % of total lipid. The results reveal that betaine lipids are present exclusively in non-flowering plants, including lichens and fungi and, hence, are produced by autotrophic, as well as heterotrophic organisms. DGTS in small amounts is typical of some Rhodophytes, and in appreciable amounts, of vascular cryptogamic plants and some higher fungi. Estimation of the amounts of DGTS and PC in 29 different species reveal that the total amount of zwitterionic lipids varies considerably amongst organisms. No general correlation could be found for the amounts of DGTS and PC, although Rhodophytes contain traces of DGTS but high amounts of PC. On the basis of these results and the presently available data, the natural distribution of the betaine lipids DGTS, DGTA and diacylglycerylcarboxy-N-hydroxymethyl-choline (DGCC) is discussed. In terms of biochemical evolution, the capacity for the formation of DGTS might have been acquired first and, in organisms of the 'DGTS branch', kept until the present time. The formation of DGTA and DGCC might have evolved at a later stage of development in organisms of the 'DGTA-DGCC branch'.

The characterisation and cyclic production of a highly unsaturated homoserine lipid in Chlorella minutissima

The marine alga Chlorella minutissima contains DGTS (diacylglyceryl-N,N,N-trimethylhomoserine) as a major component (up to 44% of total lipids). This lipid is absent from other members of the Chlorococcales, except for C. fusca, which contains DGTS as 1.3% of total lipids. Contrary to expectation, the DGTS is accompanied by PC (phosphatidylcholine) as the major phospholipid. DGTS is normally highly saturated in the C-1 position of glycerol, but in C. minutissima, both C-1 and C-2 are acylated with EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid, 20:5) in the major molecular species (over 90% of total). The DGTS level shows a marked rhythmic fluctuation with time which is inversely correlated with the level of MGDG (monogalactosyldiacylglycerol), the other major lipid. Improved NMR data and the first electrospray MS data on this lipid are presented.