Detailed Analyses of Individual Neutral Lipid Classes of Pneumocystis

SUMMARY Individual neutral lipid classes of Pneumocystis carinii carinii were isolated and purifed by thin-layer chromatography. The fatty acids in steryl esters, triglycerides, free fatty acids, diglycerides, and monoglycerides were quantified by gas-liquid chromatography. The fatty acid compositions of these lipids were similar to those of the neutral lipid classes in whole rat lung controls, unlike comparable studies of phospholipid classes. The free fatty alcohols of rat lung controls and P. carinii were also identified and quantified; only saturated fatty alcohols were detected.