Ether-containing lipids of the slime mold,Physarum polycephalum: I. Characterization and quantification.

Rapidly growing plasmodia of the acellular slime mold,Physarum polycephalum, contain large amounts of ether-linked lipids. The ether bonds occur principally in the phospholipids, where plasmalogens account for 21-24 mole per cent of the total and alkyl ether phospholipids comprise 12 mole per cent of the total. Plasmalogens account for over half of the ethanolamine phosphatides, while the alkyl ether derivatives are more uniformly distributed among the various phospholipid fractions. The 16 carbon side chain is by far the major component of both the saturated and the α,β-unsaturated ether derivatives. The nature and amounts of ether lipids present inPhysarum add to the growing evidence that Myxomycetes are more closely related to protozoa than to fungi.