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. 1988 Jun;85(12):4143–4147. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.12.4143

Altered regulation of lipid biosynthesis in a mutant of Arabidopsis deficient in chloroplast glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase activity

Ljerka Kunst *, John Browse *,†, Chris Somerville *
PMCID: PMC280382  PMID: 16593939

Abstract

The leaf membrane lipids of many plant species, including Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh., are synthesized by two complementary pathways that are associated with the chloroplast and the endoplasmic reticulum. By screening directly for alterations in lipid acyl-group composition, we have identified several mutants of Arabidopsis that lack the plastid pathway because of a deficiency in activity of the first enzyme in the plastid pathway of glycerolipid synthesis, acyl-ACP:sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.15) (where ACP is acyl carrier protein). The lesion results in an increased synthesis of lipids by the cytoplasmic pathway that largely compensates for the loss of the plastid pathway and provides nearly normal amounts of all the lipids required for chloroplast biogenesis. However, the fatty acid composition of the leaf membrane lipids of the mutants is altered because the acyltransferases associated with the two pathways normally exhibit different substrate specificities. The remarkable flexibility of the system provides an insight into the nature of the regulatory mechanisms that allocate lipids for membrane biogenesis.

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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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