Polyphosphoinositol Lipids in Chlamydomonas Eugametos Gametes

In Chlamydomonas eugametos gametes, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PtdInsP) and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdInsP2) comprised 0.4 and 0.3% of the whole-cell phospholipids. They were concentrated in the plasma membrane around the cell body and were present in low concentrations in the flagellar membrane. When gametes were fed (32)PO 4 (-) , the label was rapidly incorporated into PtdInsP and PtdInsP2 and only slowly incorporated into structural lipids such as phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. Similarly, when a pulse of (32)PO 4 (-) was chased with PO 4 (-) , the label was rapidly lost from the polyphosphoinositol lipids but not from the structural lipids. The major fatty acids in the polyphosphoinositides were C-22 carbon polyenoic acids (70%). The significance of these results in relationship to intracellular signalling via inositol phosphates and Ca(2+) is discussed.