Biosynthesis of hydrocarbons by algae: Decarboxylation of stearic acid to N-heptadecane inAnacystis nidulans determined by13C- and2H-labeling and13C nuclear magnetic resonance

The distribution of isotopic labels inn-heptadecane enriched from 1,2-¹³C] and 2-¹³C, 2-²H₃) acetates byAnacystis nidulans has been determined by¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C NMR). Labeling with 1,2-¹³C] acetate is consistent with assembly from¹³C−¹³C units derived from an acetate “starter” group and 8 malonate units, as in fatty acid biosynthesis, followed by production of a methyl group through bond cleavage of the terminal¹³C−¹³C unit. A comparison of the hydrocarbon with palmitic acid (the only fatty acid produced in sufficient amount for NMR analysis) enriched from 2-¹³C,2-²H₃]acetate by the same culture shows that they have retained the same fraction of²H at corresponding sites, and have therefore undergone identical biosynthetic and hydrogen-deuterium exchange processes, as would be expected ifn-heptadecane originates from de novo-synthesized stearic acid. NRCC No. 18251.