Journal of Lipid Research, Vol 32, 1025-1038, Copyright © 1991 by Lipid Research, Inc.
Use of an unsaturated fatty acid auxotroph of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to modify the lipid composition and function of mitochondrial membranes
BS Tung, ER Unger, B Levin, TA Brasitus and GS Getz
Department of Pathology, University of Chicago, IL 60637.
KD115 (ol1), an unsaturated fatty acid auxotroph of S. cerevisiae, was
grown in a semi-synthetic medium supplemented with 3.3 x 10(-4) M
palmitoleic (cis 16:1) or palmitelaidic (trans 16:1) acids. The parent
strain S288C was studied as a control. The lipid composition (fatty acids,
neutral lipids, and phospholipids), respiratory activity (O2 consumption),
and ultrastructure were compared in mutant yeast grown with each
unsaturated fatty acid supplement. The fatty acid supplement represented
70-80% of the yeast fatty acids. Yeast grown in trans 16:1 contained more
squalene, a higher ratio of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) to
phosphatidylcholine (PC), and had 10-20% of the respiratory activity
compared to the same yeast grown in cis 16:1. The mitochondrial morphology
of yeast in each growth supplement was notably different. The use of
mixtures of cis and trans 16:1 in different proportions revealed that the
PE/PC ratio, the squalene content, the respiratory defect, and the
mitochondrial morphology were all similarly dependent on the fraction of
trans 16:1 in the mixtures. As little as 10-20% of cis 16:1 in the mixture
was sufficient to abrogate the physiological effects of trans 16:1 on each
of the parameters noted above. The combined effects of high content of
trans unsaturated fatty acid and the altered phospholipid composition seem
to account for the decrease in lipid fluidity, the defective structure and
function of the mitochondrial membrane.