Alpha-linoleate and photosynthetic activity in Chlorella protothecoides

Turnover of the glycerolipids of pumpkin leaves. The importence of phosphatidylcholine

Between 1 and 5% of the (14)C recovered from pumpkin leaves within 15-60min after pulse-labelling with (14)CO(2) was in the lipids. The specific radioactivity of the phospholipids was higher than that of the glycolipids. Phosphatidylcholine had five times the specific radioactivity of monogalactosyl diglyceride, and the specific radioactivity of neither galactolipid changed significantly between 1 and 48h after labelling. It therefore seemed unlikely that the galactose moieties of the galactolipids were involved in the transport of assimilated compounds across the chloroplast membrane. Within 60min of the application of [1-(14)C]acetate to the surfaces of mature, intact pumpkin leaves 70% of the recovered (14)C was in the lipid fraction. Of the separated glycerolipids, phosphatidylcholine had by far the highest specific radioactivity at the shorter time-intervals, and the glycolipids again had the lowest specific radioactivities. Phosphatidylcholine was the only lipid to show a significant turnover of radiocarbon as judged by the decrease in specific radioactivity with time. From a comparison of the changes with time of the labelling of fatty acid fractions from phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and monogalactosyl diglyceride, it is suggested that the primary site of linolenic acid biosynthesis in leaf cells is within the phosphatidylcholine molecule.

Fatty acids in blue-green algae: possible relation to phylogenetic position

Analyses of the lipids in five species of blue-green algae show that the fatty acids are largely the C(16) and C(18) acids. The only alga that could be grown heterotrophically, Chlorogloea, formed the triply unsaturated C(18) acid in the light but only the doubly unsaturated C(18) acid in the dark. Examination of these results and the results of others suggest that, except for one species, the more highly unsaturated acids are found in the morphologically more complex algae. The fatty acid compositions of blue-green algae are different from the fatty acid composition of the other prokaryotic organisms, the bacteria. It is speculated that the diversity of the patterns of fatty acid composition among the blue-green algae could be of phylogenetic significance.