The lipid constituents of Fusarium aquaeductuum Lagerh., F. aquaeductuum Lagerh. var. medium and F. sambucinum Fuck. have been studied. In the mycelia of these three fungi y-carotene, lycopene and rhodoxanthin were present. Ergosterol was also present and the fatty acid pattern showed a slight qualitative difference between the three fungi.
Use of the presence of carotenoids in fungi as a taxonomic tool is discussed and it is concluded that it cannot yet be considered reliable.
The carotenoid content of Fusarium aquaeductuum Lagerh. has been studied, resulting in the isolation and identification of five pigments, y-carotene, lycopene, neurosporaxanthin, an unknown epiphasic pigment and an unidentified pigment, which probably is identical with rhodoxanthin, 3,3 '-diketo-retro-~-carotene (RAg and ZEH~.NDER, 1959).
CA~Lrm~ (1956) reported on the presence of carotenoids in Fusarium oxysporum, while BEZSSO~OFF (1914) isolated some pigments from Fusarium anthocyanes and F. orobanchus, which seemed to be carotenes.
Since in the group of Fungi Imper]ecti taxonomic classification is based on morphological and biochemical differences, it was decided to study two different species and two varieties of the same species of