The Long-chain Fatty Acid Compositions of Species Representing the Genera Saccharomyces, Schwanniomyces and Lipomyces

Summary: The cellular long-chain fatty acid composition of 31 yeast strains representing species of Saccharomyces, Schwanniomyces and Lipomyces was determined by gas chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters. The fatty acid profiles of the strains representingthe three genera were distinguishable from each other. The Saccharomyces and Lipomyces strains were characterized mainly by the presence of palmitic (C16 : 0), palmitoleic (C16 : l), stearic (C18 : 0) and oleic (Cl8 : 1) acid as the major fatty acids. The Schwanniomyces strains were characterized by the presence of palmitic, palmitoleic, oleic, linoleic (C18 : 2) and linolenic (C18 : 3) acid. The 31 strains were divided into three groups on the basis of their fatty acidcontent. The first group was characterized by a higher concentration of linoleic and linolenic acid, the second group by the absence of linolenic acid, and the third group by the absence of both linoleic and linolenic acid.