Characteristics of lipid composition in arthrospores, budding cells and mycelium of the fungus Mucor hiemalis

The fungus Mucor hiemalis F-1156, which is believed to be monomorphic, was found to be able to grow dimorphically in a liquid medium that is free of chemical agents influencing morphogenesis. The growing mycelium produced arthrospores in large amounts. The lipids of the mycelium, yeastlike budding cells, and arthrospores differed in the contents of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and in the proportion of polar and neutral lipids. The arthrospores contained more monoenoic fatty acids in the total lipids, more triacylglycerides and sterol esters in the neutral lipids, and more phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine in the polar lipids than the yeastlike cells. These differences in the lipid composition of different types of fungal cells should be taken into account in the studies of the lipogenesis of M. hiemalis.