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

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Lipids

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.

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Abbreviations

AA:

arachidonic acid

C n :

fatty acid, fatty acid with n carbon atoms

DAG:

diacylglycerol

DAGAT:

diacylglycerol acyltransferase

DGDG:

digalactosyldiacylglycerol

EPA:

elcosapentaenoic acid (20∶5n−3)

MGDG:

monogalactosyldiacylglycerol

PC:

phosphatidylcholine

PUFA:

polyunsaturated fatty acid

TAG:

triacylglycerol

WT:

wild type

X:Y:

a fatty acyl group containing X carbon atoms and Y double bonds (cis). Pairs of numbers representing the fatty acids, when separated by a slash, designate the components in the sn-1 and sn-2 positions, respectively, of the molecular species

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microalgal Biotechnology Laboratory, The Albert Katz Department of Dryland Biotechnologies, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Sde-Boker Campus 84990, Israel

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

  2. The Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Daniel Adlerstein

Authors
  1. Inna Khozin-Goldberg
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  2. Hu Zheng Yu
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  3. Daniel Adlerstein
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  4. Shoshana Didi-Cohen
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  5. Yair M Heimer
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  6. Zvi Cohen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zvi Cohen.

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Khozin-Goldberg, I., Yu, H.Z., Adlerstein, D. et al. Triacylglycerols of the red microalga Porphyridium cruentum can contribute to the biosynthesis of eukaryotic galactolipids. Lipids 35, 881–889 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/S11745-000-0597-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/S11745-000-0597-8

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