Substrate specificities in ether lipid biosynthesis. Metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids and alcohols by rat brain microsomes

Reduction of fatty acids having one to four double bonds per molecule to the corresponding alcohols, and the utilization of such alcohols for alkyl dihydroxyacetone phosphate (alkyl DHAP) synthesis was measured with microsomal preparations from 19-day-old rat brain. While alkyl DHAP formation proceeded well with octadecenol, octadecadienol, octadecatrienol and eicosatetraenol, fatty acids with more than one $\text{cis}$-double bond were not readily reduced to the corresponding alcohols.