Isolation and characterization of cerebrosides of the hydrocarbon-assimilating yeast Yarrowia lipolytica

Yarrowia lipolytica yeast was grown batchwise on n-hexadecane as the carbon and energy source. Two cerebroside species were quantitatively isolated from sphingolipid fractions of total lipids by a combination of column chromatography and preparative high-performance thin-layer chromatography. The cerebroside content accounted for 1.3% of the total cell lipids. Glucose was detected as the sole sugar constituent in cerebrosides. The fatty acid composition of cerebrosides was characterized by a high proportion of hydroxylated long-chain saturated fatty acids. The major fatty acids were h16:0 and 16:0. The long-chain bases composition shows a preponderance of trihydroxy bases and a small amount of dihydroxy bases. The striking finding was a high proportion of 19-phytosphingosine.