LIPIDS 1 J ^ 



Carotenoids are of widespread but not universal occurrence in the 

 fungi, including representatives of all the major taxonomic groups 

 (232, 236, 264). Table 3 lists the carotenoids of a few fungi which 



Table 3. Carotenoids of Some Fungi 



Organism Carotenoids 



Allomyces javanicus 7-carotene,* j8-carotene, lycopene, phytofluene (178, 



529) 



Phycomyces blakesleeanus a-carotene, /3-carotene, * 7-carotene, ^-carotene, \ lyco- 

 pene, neurosporene, phytofluene, phytoene (233, 

 310) 



Neurospora crassa /3-carotene, 7-carotene,* 0-carotene, lycopene,* spiril- 



loxanthin (rhodoviolascin),* lycoxanthin, neurospo- 

 rene,* phytofluene, phytoene, unidentified com- 

 pounds (264) 



Dacrymyces stillatus a-carotene, /3-carotene,* 7-carotene (?), £-carotene,t 



torulene, cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, phytofluene, 

 phytoene (?) (234) 



Puccinia spp. /3-carotene, 7-carotene (?), lycopene (293) 



* Quantitatively important. 



f See Haxo (264) on fungal ^-carotene. 



have been intensively studied. In contrast to higher plants, /3-carotene 

 is not so nearly universal in the fungi, and acidic carotenoids, e.g., 

 torularhodin, are more common (232). 



The intracellular distribution of fungal carotenoids has not been 

 systematically investigated. In certain of the higher fungi, carotenoid 

 pigments occur both in rod-shaped structures, apparently part of the 

 mitochondrial system, and in oil droplets in the cytoplasm (266, 267). 

 The carotenoids of the male gametangia of Allomyces spp. are found 

 in cytoplasmic oil droplets (178), those of Rhodotorula rubra in 

 granules in the pericapsular region (127). 



The physiological conditions of carotenogenesis are to some degree 

 specific for individual organisms. In Phycomyces blakesleeanus, the 

 time course of carotene formation (Figure 5) indicates that the bulk of 

 the carotene is formed after growth has been completed and that 

 carotenoid formation is independent of lipid formation. Independ- 

 ence of fat and carotene synthesis also appears from their divergent 

 pH requirements (238). Carotenogenesis is affected, of course, by 

 carbon and nitrogen nutrition, but the data do not afford a basis for 

 generalization. Cultivation of Phycomyces blakesleeanus at low 

 temperature decreases total carotene synthesis but does not affect the 



