Lipid and fatty acid compositions of a novel docosahexaenoic acid-producing marine bacterium.

An unidentified bacterial strain, SCRC-21406, isolated from the intestine of a marine fish, Glossanodon semifasciatus, produced docosahexaenoic acid at 23% (mol/mol) [= 28% (w/w)] of total fatty acids in a medium containing 0.5% (wt/vol) peptone and 0.1% (wt/vol) yeast extract at 12 degrees C under atmospheric pressure. The cell yield was 0.43 g/L. The major lipids of the strain were phosphatidylethanolamine and phophatidylglycerol. Docosahexaenoic acid was localized at the sn-2 positions of both phospholipids. The amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids other than docosahexaenoic acid were extremely small [< 3% (mol/mol)]. Monounsaturated fatty acids of the cis-7, cis-9 and cis-11 types were detected.