As a representative of a genus with species considered to be potential commercial producers of the nutritionally important polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), Thraustochytrium sp. ATCC 26185 was investigated to determine its potential for DHA production and lipid composition. Cells from liquid shake cultures contained 32% (w/w) lipid, 18% of which was nonsaponifiable lipid. The major saturated fatty acids (14:0 and 16:0) comprised up to 59% of the total fatty acids, and DHA was up to 25% after 6 d incubation. Squalene represented 63% of the nonsaponifiable lipid, and cholesterol composed 41% of the total sterols. The phospholipids expected for eucaryotic microbes were detected with phosphatidylcholine as the major phospholipid at 76% of the total. The ultrastructure of this species was similar to other Thraustochytrium species except that the cells did not have surface scales and they contained unusual membrane-like structures that appeared to be associated with oil formation.

Lipids of the marine oomycetous microbe Haliphthoros philippinensis were characterized by chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. Total lipid content of this organism was relatively low and not very responsive to manipulation of the culture conditions. Neutral lipid comprised 21% of the total lipid and the polar lipids were mainly phosphatidylcholine (44%), phosphatidylethanolamine (15%), and a ceramide-phosphorylethanolamine (19%). Palmitic (16:0) was the primary saturated fatty acid at 25% of the total fatty acids, and arachidonic acid (20:4n-6, ARA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3, EPA) were the major unsaturated fatty acids at 19 and 21%, respectively. Fucosterol was the principal sterol at 59% of the total sterols. The effects of several cultivation variables on growth and EPA production by this species were investigated. Among those tested, glucose and sodium glutamate were the most efficient carbon and nitrogen sources for growth, respectively. When the mycelium was cultivated for 6 d to produce biomass under optimal growth conditions, and then transferred to low temperature for an additional 13 d without glucose, the EPA content reached 31% of the total fatty acids and the yield was 203 mg/L. When the same experiment was performed with glucose supplementation during the low-temperature phase, EPA composed 27% of total fatty acids and yield reached 316 mg/L, or a 285% increase over that from mycelium cultured for 6 d at 24°C, and 56% over that cultured at 16°C for 13 d. ARA production did not respond accordingly.