DISTRIBUTION OF DIACYLGLYCEROTRIMETHYLHOMOSERINE AND PHOSPHATIDYLCHOLINE IN MUSHROOMS

Fifty-eight species of mushrooms from different orders of Basidiomycet es were examined by HPTLC for the presence of cylglycero-O-4'-(N,N,N,- trimethyl)homoserine(DGTS) and phosphatidylcholine (PC). It was found that DGTS was one of the main polar lipids in all species investigated from the orders Boletales and Hygrophorales. This lipid was detected as a minor component in a few species from Aphyllophorales and the fam ily Tricholomataceae. Tile presence of DGTS does not depend on the sta ge of the development of fruit bodies and place of collection of these mushrooms. Phosphatidylcholine was the major phospholipid in all spec ies investigated except for Leccinum scabrum, L. variocolar and Hygrop horus hypothejus in which this lipid was virtually absent. Possible bi osynthetic mechanisms resulting in absence of PC are discussed. (C) 19 98 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.