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. 1986 Mar;80(3):638–645. doi: 10.1104/pp.80.3.638

Phase Transitions in Thylakoid Polar Lipids of Chilling-Sensitive Plants

A Comparison of Detection Methods

John K Raison 1, Glenda R Orr 1
PMCID: PMC1075175  PMID: 16664677

Abstract

The phase behavior of thylakoid polar lipids from plants sensitive to chilling injury was investigated by calorimetry, electron spin resonance spectroscopy of spin labels, and fluorescence intensity after labeling with trans-parinaric acid. The plants used were oleander (Nerium oleander), mung bean (Vigna radiata L. var Mungo), and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv Grosse Lisse). For all plants the initiation temperature for the calorimetric exotherm was coincident (±1°C) with the transition determined by the increase in the temperature coefficient of spin label motion and fluorescence intensity of trans-parinaric acid. For oleander plants, grown at 45°C, the transition was at 7°C while for plants from the same clone, grown at 20°C, it was at −2°C. For mung bean and tomato the transition was between 9 and 12°C. The similarity in the transition detected by spin labeling and fluorescence intensity suggest that spin labels, like the fluorescent label trans-parinaric acid, preferentially partition into domains of ordered lipid. The coincidence of the temperature for initiation of the transition, determined by the three techniques, shows that each is a valid method of assessing a phase transition in membrane polar lipids.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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