Pathway of taurolipid B formation from exogenous taurolipid A by Tetrahymena thermophila.

When Tetrahymena thermophila was incubated with taurolipid A isolated from T. pyriformis NT-1, the exogenously added taurolipid A was deacylated rapidly, and taurolipid B content in the cells was increased. The deacylated taurolipid A (lysotaurolipid A) content reached a maximum early on during incubation, and then declined. Taurolipid B and lysotaurolipid B contents in the cells were increased continuously during the incubation. These observations suggest that lysotaurolipid A was an intermediate for taurolipid B formation. When cells were incubated with lysotaurolipid A, newly formed lysotaurolipid B and taurolipid B were observed. Furthermore, when cells were incubated with lysotaurolipid B, only taurolipid B was newly formed. In contrast, newly formed lysotaurolipid B was observed when cells were incubated with exogenous taurolipid B. From the results, we have postulated the biosynthetic pathway of taurolipid B from exogenous taurolipid A in cells of Thermophila.