Molecular species of phosphatidyl ethanolamine from egg yolk

Phosphatidyl ethanolamine was isolated from total egg yolk lipids by preparative thin layer chromatography (TLC). The purified phosphatide contained 3% of the alkoxy derivative. It was degraded to diglycerides in the presence of purified sphingomyelin by phospholipase C from Clostridium welchii . The diglycerides were acetylated and resolved on the basis of unsaturation by argentation TLC. The fatty acid composition of the original phosphatidyl ethanolamine and the derived acetates was determined by gas chromatography, as was the molecular weight distribution of the diglyceride acetates. The placement of the fatty acids in the parent phosphatide was deduced by hydrolysis with phospholipase A from Crotalus atrox , and in the acetates with pancreatic lipase. Some 33 major species of phosphatidyl ethanolamine were identified and compared to those for egg yolk lecithins.