LIPID-COMPOSITION OF THE SEED GALL NEMATODE, ANGUINA-TRITICI

Anguina tritici were teased out from soaked galled seeds of wheat, collected from the wheat markets of Ludhiana district (India). Lipids were extracted, weighed, fractionated by Thin Layer Chromatography and Gas Liquid Chromatography and quantified. A. tritici has 32.4% total lipids. Almost 90 per cent of the lipids were triglycerides. Phospholipids, free fatty acids, total cholesterol and glycolipids were each less than 4.4% of the total lipids. Oleic acid formed 72 to 75% of total fatty acids of neutral lipids/triglycerides. Phospholipids had relatively higher proportion of saturated fatty acids. The narrow ratio of phospholipids to cholesterol indicated acquisition of phyrosterols from seeds of host, its conversion to cholesterol and storage of the same for steroidogenesis. Nematodes are known to lack the ability to synthesize cholesterol, de novo. The fatty acid C-16:2 was present to the extent of 20.6% in total lipids, possibly as a part of phosphatidyl ethanolamine and glycolipids, because it was absent in all other fractions.