Comparison of the lipid composition of Culex quinquefasciatus and Culex tritaeniorhynchus cells obtained from the logarithmic and stationary phases of growth.

Culex quinquefasciatus and Culex tritaeniorhynchus cells were grown in spinner culture medium. The cells were harvested at late logarithmic and stationary phases of growth. The total lipid, total neutral lipid, and total phospholipid contents of the cells were analyzed to determine changes that occurred in the fatty acid profiles of the lipids with aging and between species. There was an increase in the amount of total neutral lipids with a corresponding decrease in amount of total phospholipid from logarithmic to stationary phases of growth of the Culex quinquefasciatus cells. Chain elongation and/or desaturation of acids occurred with aging of cells. The fatty acids of the phospholipids had a longer average chain length than the neutral lipids.