Lipid Nomenclature
This subject is dealt with at many points in this website, but for a definitive account, we can serve you best by pointing to the following documents. The first two are available to all in the form of PDF files as free downloads from the Journal of Lipid Research. The third is available on-line to those with access to the specific journals.
IUPAC-IUB Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature.
The nomenclature of lipids. J. Lipid Res., 8, 523-528 (1967) or
Biochem. J., 105, 897-902 (1967) or Chem. Phys. Lipids, 2, 156-167 (1968).
Download (594 kb).IUPAC-IUB Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature. The nomenclature of lipids (Recommendations 1976). J. Lipid Res., 19, 114-128 (1978) or Chem. Phys. Lipids, 21, 159-173 (1978) or Hoppe-Seyler's Z. Physiol. Chem., 358, 617-631 (1977). Download (1229 kb).
IUPAC-IUB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature (JCBN). Nomenclature of glycolipids. Recommendations 1997. Eur. J. Biochem., 257, 293-298 (1998) or Carbohydr. Res., 312, 167-175 (1998) or Glycoconjugate J., 16, 1-6 (1999) or J. Mol. Biol., 286, 963-970 (1999).
Alternatively, the information is available from websites containing the IUPAC guide to the nomenclature of glycerolipids and fatty acids or to that for glyco-/sphingolipids. However, I have found discrepancies between the published and website versions for the former, especially in the shorthand nomenclature for fatty acids. The published versions are correct.
There is no definition of lipid that has been accepted by any international body that recommends standards. My preferred definition is discussed elsewhere on this site, and briefly is -
Lipids are fatty acids and their derivatives, and substances related biosynthetically or functionally to these compounds.
A further useful guide to lipid nomenclature and structures is a paper by Fahy and 17 others - A comprehensive classification system for lipids (J. Lipid Res., 46, 839-862 (2005) - reprinted in Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol., 107, 337-364 (2005)). It is available from the Journal of Lipid Research as a free download here.... It is complemented by a website – Lipid Maps.
This is a very interesting attempt to classify lipid structures in a manner that facilitates cataloguing by computer. Again, I have some reservations that stem mainly from the fact that it is heavily oriented towards animal lipids. I applaud their attempt to define the term 'lipid', though their definition still seems too broad for me , i.e.
Hydrophobic or amphipathic small molecules that may originate entirely or in part by carbanion-based condensations of thioesters (fatty acids, polyketides, etc.) and/or by carbocation-based condensations of isoprene units (prenols, sterols, etc.).
This definition appears to suggest that almost any organic compound not a carbohydrate or a protein is a lipid. It may make sense to a biochemist, but what are physical chemists, food scientists and so forth to make of it? In addition, they wrongly classify glycosyldiacylglycerols with simple glycerol derivatives - the plant sulfolipid and seminolipid have apparently been forgotten. A method of drawing lipid structures is proposed that seems needlessly complicated for most purposes, and more seriously they do not illustrate the correct ionic forms of phospholipids. The general aims of the paper are admirable, however, and hopefully the faults will be cured in time by dialogue. Lipid Maps is of course a private consortium, not an international standards body, although I expect that their proposals will be given serious consideration by IUPAC-IUB in due course.
The 'Lipid Glossary 2' by F.D. Gunstone and B. Herslöf (The Oily Press Ltd, 2000) is an invaluable source of information and is available from the publisher in the form of a PDF file as a free download (776 kb).
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Updated: 19/6/2007 |
Scottish Crop Research Institute (and MRS Lipid Analysis Unit), Invergowrie, Dundee (DD2 5DA), Scotland
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