Lipids and Lipid-Like Compounds of Fusarium

This chapter provides a brief summary of the types of lipids that have been found in the genus Fusarium and describes a class of lipid-like compounds that are generated by some Fusarium species. It describes a number of compounds that are produced by other microorganisms and bear structural similarity to fumonisins and affect sphingolipid metabolism. Phospholipids account for 4 to 21% of the total lipid depending on the Fusarium species, and generally have a higher percentage of unsaturated fatty acids than the triacylglycerols. Sphingolipid turnover is thought to involve the hydrolysis of complex sphingolipids to ceramides and then to sphingosine. The effects of fumonisin on the cells are relatively selective, because there is no reduction in the radiolabeling of fatty acids, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine or phosphatidylcholine from [¹⁴C]-serine, nor in the mass of these phospholipids. Some isolates of F. solani produce an extracellular cutinase which can be assayed by the hydrolysis of cutin containing [¹⁴C]-palmitic acid.