CAROTENOIDS 



and were identified as lycopene, y-carotene, rhodoviolascin (= spiril- 

 loxanthin, see p. 121) and neurosporene (? == tetrahydrolycopene, see 

 p. 28). Only ^-carotene, of the four minor epiphasic carotenoids 

 was unequivocally identified, but the other three were probably lyco- 

 xanthin (or rhodopin), a-carotene and rhodopurpurene (see p. 121). 

 The major constituent of the hypophasic pigment fraction of Neurospora 

 crassa is an unidentified acidic carotenoid. Phytofluene is also present. ^ ' 



Heim * has reported the presence of unidentified carotenoids in the 

 following Discomycetes, Sarcoscypha coccinea, Peziza aurantia^ 

 Melastiza miniata, Anthracobia melaloma, and Humaria spp. 



An unidentified morel, ** Hongro de San Juan " (Boletus spp.) 

 collected in Guatemala contained 0-005 mg. of carotene per 100 g. (wet 

 weight). * '^ 



Basidiomycetes 



Towards the end of the last century Miiller^s and Bertrand and 

 Poirault^s noted carotenoids (lipochromes), often in crystalline form, 

 in uredospores. Bachmann (quoted by Lederer)^^ considered the 

 pigment to be carotene, but a thorough investigation of two species, 

 Puccinia coronifera and Coleosporium senecionisy by Lederer^* revealed 

 the presence of a-, p- and y-carotene in both fungi. The former also 

 produced an acidic carotenoid, which was not examined in detail but 

 appeared similar to the acid pigment, torularhodin, produced by 

 Rhodotorula spp. (see p. 106). 



Heim * has observed carotenoid crystals in the c5rtoplasm of Mutinus 

 caninus, M. bambusintis, Lysurus hexagonus and of a Beudocolus from 

 Madagascar. In M. caninus, orange droplets also occur but this 

 is apparently more characteristic of the Ascomycetes. 



The single carotenoid of Tremella mesenterica is ^-carotene, whilst 

 in the related Aleuria aurantia a complex mixture exists in which p- 

 and y-carotenes, rubixanthin (probably), and an unidentified pigment 

 are present^''. The difficulty Lederer experienced in extracting the 

 carotenoids from A. aurantia should be noted ; the dry material must 

 be treated with water to burst the cells before the pigment can be 

 extracted even with acetone. 



Willstaedt ^ <* has investigated the carotenoid distribution in certain 

 species of Cantharellus ; C. cibarius contains chiefly ^-carotene but 

 also some a-carotene, a little lycopene and y- and S-carotenes, the 

 concentration of ^-carotene being 4 mg. per 100 g. (fresh wt.). C. 

 lutescens and C. infundibiliformis, on the other hand, synthesize appreci- 

 able amounts of lycopene but no ^-carotene. A pigment tentatively 

 identified as p-apo-8'-carotenal was also detected in C. infundibiliformis. 



104 



