Circadian rhythms in Neurospora crassa: effects of unsaturated fatty acids.

Employing a fatty acid-requiring strain (bd csp cel) of Neurospora crassa, the 21.5-h period of the circadian spore-forming rhythm was manipulated by fatty acid supplementation. The addition to the medium of an unsaturated fatty acid (oleic, linoleic, or linolenic acid) lengthened the period to 26, 40, or 33 h, respectively. Ther period-lengthening effect of linoleic acid was proportional to its concentration up to 1.3 X 10(-4) M, and also was reversed by the addition to the medium of a saturated fatty acid, palmitic acid. None of these period-lengthening effects was observed in the prototrophic strain (bd csp cel+).