Figure 3.

Quantitative estimates of the relative amounts of various cellular components in C. neoformans whole-cell and melanin ghost samples prepared from cultures containing [U-¹³C₆]glucose-enriched medium, demonstrating the preferential retention of lipids by melanin ghosts. Top left, ¹³C quantitatively reliable DP (50-s recycle delay) spectra of nonmelanized (A) and melanized (B) whole cells from the acapsular mutant Cap59 strain and melanin ghosts generated from H99 cells (C). Top right, pie charts displaying the relative quantities of lipid, polysaccharide, and “other” (unidentified) cellular constituents with respect to their total content in whole cells (D) and melanin ghosts (E). Only one pie chart is shown for both melanized and nonmelanized whole cells due to the absence of compositional differences between the two samples. Bottom left, ¹³C DP spectra of melanized whole cells (F) and melanin ghosts (G) overlaid with the fitted curves (obtained with DMfit spectral deconvolution software) that correspond to the three classes of identified lipids. Bottom right, pie charts displaying the relative quantities of TGs, SEs, and PPs with respect to the total lipid content in whole cells (H) and melanin ghosts (I). Each spectrum was normalized by setting the largest peak to full scale. Orange, TGs; green, SEs; violet, PPs.