γ‐Linolenic acid in zygomycetous fungi: Syzygites megalocarpus

The fatty acids of over 150 species and isolates of zygomycetous fungi were analyzed, and it was found that γ‐linolenic acid (GLA) composed 35 to 62% of the total fatty acids in several species, i.e., Circenella simplex, Mucor indicus, Syzygites megalocarpus (ATCC 18025), and Zygorhynchus moellierie A (UAMH 1556). Further study of S. megalocarpus showed that the total lipid content of the mycelium could be increased from 9.8% of the dry biomass to 20 to 25% when grown in a medium with a high carbon/nitrogen ratio. Under these conditions, the GLA content of the triacyglycerols increased during culture development, even during the stationary phase, but remained relatively constant in the phospholipid fraction. Nonsaponifiable lipid represented 4% of the total lipid, and the major sterol among 14 others detected was ergosterol at 52% of the total. Phospholipids composed 7% of the total lipid with phosphatidylethanol‐amine and phosphatidylcholine representing 53 and 39% of the total, respectively.