Distribution and chemotaxonomic significance of acetylenic fatty acids in mosses of the dicranales

Abstract Thirty-eight moss species from four families of the order Dicranales were analysed for the fatty acid composition of their acyl lipids. In the Ditrichaceae and the Dicranaceae numerous species were found to contain acetylenic fatty acids in their triglycerides, 9,12,15-Octadecatrien-6-ynoic acid was the major component, often accounting for more than 80 mol%, whereas 9,12-octadecadien-6-ynoic acid was found in small amounts of less than 5 mol%. In some genera, all the species examined contained acetylenic fatty acids, e.g. Dicranella and Dicranum , whereas in the genus Campylopus all five species tested were free of acetylenic compounds. Two genera, Ditrichum and Dicranoweisia , we…