Molecular species of ceramides from the ascomycete truffle Tuber indicum.

The ceramide fractions were isolated from the chloroform/methanolic extractable of the fruiting bodies of Tuber indicum and separated into three kinds of molecular species TI-1, TI-2, and TI-3 by normal and reverse phase silica gel-column chromatography. By means of (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS), and chemical degradation experiment, their component sphingoid base for TI-1 and TI-2 was uniformly (2S,3S,4R)-2-amino-1,3,4-octadecantriol, while the sphingoid of TI-3 was d-erythro-sphingosine, and their structures have been determined unequivocally to be (2S,2'R,3S,4R)-2-(2'-d-hydroxyalkanoylamino) octadecane-1,3,4-triol, the fatty acid composition of which consists of 2-hydroxydocosanoic, 2-hydroxytetracosanoic, and 2-hydroxytricosanoic acids (from major to minor); (2S,3S,4R)-2-(alkanoylamino)octadecane-1,3,4-triol, the fatty acid composition of which is unusual and consists of docosanoic, hexadecanoic, tricosanoic, octadecanoic and nonadecanoic acids (from major to minor); and (2S,3R,4E)-2-(alkanoylamino)-4-octadecene-1,3-diol, the component fatty acids of which were hexadecanoic (predominant) and octadecanoic acids, respectively.