Skip to main content
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1997 Apr;113(4):1343–1349. doi: 10.1104/pp.113.4.1343

In Vivo Studies of the Biosynthesis of [alpha]-Eleostearic Acid in the Seed of Momordica charantia L.

L Liu 1, E G Hammond 1, B J Nikolau 1
PMCID: PMC158257  PMID: 12223677

Abstract

In vivo radiotracer experiments using 14C-labeled acetate, oleate, linoleate, and linolenate were conducted to investigate the biosynthesis of [alpha]-eleostearic acid in the seeds of Momordica charantia. With the exception of [14C]linolenate, all of these precursors radioactively labeled [alpha]-eleostearate. Kinetics of the time course of metabolism of the radioactive precursors indicate that linoleate is the acyl precursor of [alpha]-eleostearate and that its conversion to [alpha]-eleostearate occurs while the acyl moiety is esterified to PC. Pulse-chase experiments with 14C-labeled acetate or linoleate provided additional corroborative evidence that linoleoyl PC is the precursor of [alpha]-eleostearoyl PC.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (712.5 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Bafor M., Smith M. A., Jonsson L., Stobart K., Stymne S. Biosynthesis of vernoleate (cis-12-epoxyoctadeca-cis-9-enoate) in microsomal preparations from developing endosperm of Euphorbia lagascae. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1993 May 15;303(1):145–151. doi: 10.1006/abbi.1993.1265. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bafor M., Smith M. A., Jonsson L., Stobart K., Stymne S. Ricinoleic acid biosynthesis and triacylglycerol assembly in microsomal preparations from developing castor-bean (Ricinus communis) endosperm. Biochem J. 1991 Dec 1;280(Pt 2):507–514. doi: 10.1042/bj2800507. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gunstone F. D. A possible biosynthetic pathway to the conjugated polyethenoid acids. Chem Ind. 1965 Jun 12;24:1033–1034. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Moreau R. A., Stumpf P. K. Recent studies of the enzymic synthesis of ricinoleic Acid by developing castor beans. Plant Physiol. 1981 Apr;67(4):672–676. doi: 10.1104/pp.67.4.672. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Morris L. J., Marshall M. O. Occurrence of cis,trans-linoleic acid in seed oils. Chem Ind. 1966 Aug 27;35:1493–1494. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES