Triacylglycerols of the red microalga Porphyridium cruentum can contribute to the biosynthesis of eukaryotic galactolipids

Inna Khozin-Goldberg, Hu Zheng Yu, Daniel Adlerstein, Shoshana Didi-Cohen, Yair M. Heimer, Zvi Cohen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

A mutant of the red microalga Porphyridium cruentum was selected on the basis of impaired growth at suboptimal temperatures (15 vs. 25°C). Fatty acid and lipid analyses revealed diminished proportions of eicosapentaenoic acid (from 41 to 30%) and of the eukaryotic molecular species (from 38 to 28% of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) and elevated proportion (10 vs. 2%) of triacylglycerols (TAG) in the mutant, as compared with the wild type. Pulse labeling of the wild type cells with radioactive fatty acid precursors indicated an initial incorporation of the fatty acids into phosphatidylcholine (PC) and TAG. Following the pulse, the label of PC and TAG decreased with time (from 25 to 5% of the total dpm in TAG) while that of chloroplastic polar lipids, mainly MGDG, continued to increase. In the mutant, however, the labeling of TAG after the pulse was higher (30% of the total dpm) than that of the wild type and decreased only slightly to 20%. This may indicate that in P. cruentum, TAG can contribute to the biosynthesis of eukaryotic species of MGDG.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)881-889
Number of pages9
JournalLipids
Volume35
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2000

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Cell Biology

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