Evidence for, and taxonomic value of, an arachidonic acid cascade in the Lipomycetaceae.

By using specific inhibitors of the lipoxygenase and cyclo-oxygenase pathways, arachidonic acid metabolites with similar sensitivities towards these inhibitors as in humans, were detected in Dipodascopsis uninucleata. The taxonomic value of aspirin sensitive arachidonic acid metabolites in the Lipomycetaceae was next assessed. No metabolites of which the production is inhibited by aspirin were detected in strains representing the following species: Lipomyces starkeyi, Lipomyces kononenkoae, Lipomyces tetrasporus, Myxozyma melibiosi, Myxozyma mucilagina, Myxozyma kluyveri, Waltomyces lipofer, Zygozyma oligophaga and Zygozyma arxii. The detection of such aspirin sensitive arachidonic acid metabolites in representative strains of Lipomyces anomalus and the genus Dipodascopsis, emphasises the isolated position of these taxa in the genus Lipomyces and the family Lipomycetaceae, respectively. Finally using long chain fatty acid analyses, electrophoretic karyotyping and other phenotypic characters, a phylogenetic scheme is proposed for some genera in the Lipomycetaceae.