Open AccessIdentification of 24‐methylene‐24,25‐dihydrolanosterol as a precursor of ergosterol in the yeasts Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Schizosaccharomyces octosporus
Author(s) -
Harmouch N.,
Coulon J.,
Bonaly R.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1995.tb07929.x
Subject(s) - lanosterol , ergosterol , schizosaccharomyces pombe , sterol , schizosaccharomyces , biochemistry , chemistry , biology , yeast , cholesterol , saccharomyces cerevisiae
Study of the plasma membrane sterol composition in the yeasts Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Schizosaccharomyces octosporus revealed the presence of ergosterol, lanosterol, dehydroergosterol, fecosterol, episterol and 24‐methylene‐24,25‐dihydrolanosterol (eburicol), a C‐31 derivative. The growth of both yeasts in the presence of ketoconazole led to a decrease by 85% of the ergosterol content while the levels of lanosterol and eburicol increased. This suggests that in the biosynthetic pathway of ergosterol in Schizosaccharomyces species, the transmethylation process on the C‐24 may occur directly on lanosterol and not only on zymosterol. On the other hand, it cannot be excluded that in the genus Schizosaccharomyces two routes exist from lanosterol to ergosterol: the classical one via a direct C‐14, C‐4 demethylation of lanosterol and the second one via the formation of a C‐31 derivative followed by demethylations.