Disease relevance of Phytan

• Alcanivorax borkumensis strain ST-T1 isolated from the Sea of Japan exhibited higher ability to degrade branched alkanes (pristane and phytane) than A. venetianus strain T4 [1].
• A new isolate, Mycobacterium sp. strain P101, is capable of growth on methyl-branched alkanes (pristane, phytane, and squalane) [2].
• The most extensively studied model of plasmacytomagenesis is the induction of plasmacytomas in BALB/c mice by i.p. injections of mineral oil or, chemically more defined, by several branched alkanes such as pristane (2.6.10.14-tetramethylpentadecane), phytane (2.6.10.14-tetramethylhexadecane), and 7-n-hexyloctadecane [3].

High impact information on Phytan

• The hydrocarbon composition of the seep soils consisted almost entirely of saturated, acyclic alkanes (e.g., n-alkanes with chain lengths of C15 to C30, as well as branched alkanes, predominately pristane and phytane) [4].
• The isoprenoid hydrocarbon, trans-phyt-2-ene (82.2%), phyt-1-ene (6.5%), and phytane (11.3%), were detected in bovine rumen liquor by means of AgNO3-impregnated thin layer chromatography and gas liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry and infrared spectrophotometry [5].
• The concentrations of TPH and UCM in sediments declined to around 40 microg g(-1), pristane and phytane dropped by 80%, and the ratio of light to total n-alkanes was 0.15, suggesting that residual oil in sediments was weathered leading to a remarkable recovery of the unhealthy saplings [6].
• Using the 17alpha,21beta-C30-hopane as an internal inert reference, we could demonstrate that, after 12 months of in situ incubation, 55% of the losses of the n-alkanes < or = C25 and 35% of the losses of the heavier n-alkanes and of Pr and Ph were due to biodegradation processes [7].
• The presence of phytane and UCM (> 3) together to PR/C17 and PH/C18 ratios (both < 1) suggest a large contribution of crude oils [8].

Associations of Phytan with other chemical compounds

• The molecular markers for these emissions include the high molecular weight PAHs, the n-alkanes, a Carbon Preference Index approximately 1 (odd carbon:even carbon approximately 1), as well as pristane and phytane as specific markers for fuel oil degradation [9].

Gene context of Phytan

• The concentrations including n-alkanes from C13 to C36, pristane and phytane were in the range of 0.60 to 170.10 microg/g, with a median value of 4.26 [10].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Phytan

• GC-MS analyses of hydrolyzed total lipid extracts revealed that the co-culture of N. equitans and Ignicoccus sp. strain KIN4/I, as well as Ignicoccus sp. strain KIN4/I grown at 90 degrees C, contained phytane and biphytane in a ratio of approximately 4:1 [11].

References