Exploration of polar lipid accumulation profiles in Euglena gracilis using LipidBlast, an MS/MS spectral library constructed in silico.

A rapid protocol for polar lipid profiling was applied to Euglena gracilis lipid metabolism by LipidBlast, an MS/MS spectral similarity search tool. The similarity search results suggested anoxia-induced polar lipid metabolism in Euglena characterized by the accumulation of differential lipid classes, carbon chain lengths, and unsaturated bond numbers. The informatics-supported MS spectral search provides an alternative option for global lipid profiling studies.