Lipidomic Analysis Reveals Branched-Chain and Cyclic Fatty Acids from Angomonas deanei Grown under Different Nutritional and Physiological Conditions

TL;DR

This study uses lipidomic analysis to identify unique fatty acids in the insect parasite Angomonas deanei under different growth conditions.

Contribution

The study identifies branched-chain and cyclic fatty acids in A. deanei and their changes during growth phases.

Findings

Branched-chain iso C17:0 and C19:0 fatty acids were detected in A. deanei cultures.

Fatty acid content decreased during the log phase, suggesting lipid remodeling for membrane fluidity.

GC-MS and NMR techniques combined with PCA enabled lipid characterization under various growth conditions.

Abstract

Angomonas deanei belongs to Trypanosomatidae family, a family of parasites that only infect insects. It hosts a bacterial endosymbiont in a mutualistic relationship, constituting an excellent model for studying organelle origin and cellular evolution. A lipidomic approach, which allows for a comprehensive analysis of all lipids in a biological system (lipidome), is a useful tool for identifying and measuring different expression patterns of lipid classes. The present study applied GC-MS and NMR techniques, coupled with principal component analysis (PCA), in order to perform a comparative lipidomic study of wild and aposymbiotic A. deanei grown in the presence or absence of FBS. Unusual contents of branched-chain iso C17:0 and C19:0-cis-9,10 and-11,12 fatty acids were identified in A. deanei cultures, and it was interesting to note that their content slightly decreased at the log phase culture, indicating that in the latter growth stages the cell must promote the remodeling of lipid synthesis in order to maintain the fluidity of the membrane. The combination of analytical techniques used in this work allowed for the detection and characterization of lipids and relevant contributors in a variety of A. deanei growth conditions.

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